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Finally got to see Italian Jannik Sinner in person back in March at Indian Wells. As usual, seeing top players live gives a much different impression than TV, for me at least. Please check out this month's Tour Portrait for TPN at this link. I'll share a couple of larger images in this post.
Sinner has really sprouted up in the last couple of years to, I'd guesstimate, 6' 4" and in only the last year does he seem to have "grown into his frame". Only a year ago I heard a European announcer say that "The book is to hit behind Sinner because he doesn't yet have a lot of leg strength, so changing directions is a problem." No more. Sinner was flying all over the court with deceptive speed. Long limbs even for 6'4" and he's also put on muscle.
He has such "easy power" the sheer velocity on his forehand might not be immediately evident, but the depth is. Although he lost this semifinal at Indian Wells to the eventual champ Carlos Alcaraz you could see that Sinner's depth bothers Carlos in a way I haven't seen many other forehands affect him (and are those two destined to have one of the next, great rivalries? Their H2H is 3-3 with Sinner taking their Wimbledon and Miami meetings, while Carlos won at the US Open and IW} H2H: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/a...nner/a0e2/s0ag
Photo notes: It was a grey, overcast sprinkling evening. Flat, dark light. Really lousy for photography -- except for moments when the sun set over the stadium edge. Jannik running into the sun creating highlights on his face that make this image.
Note the bent arm. More on that later.
filedata/fetch?id=100666&d=1683562186&type=thumb
For context, 81 MPH as an "average" forehand is quite fast. Basilashvili led the ATP with an ave of 80 MPH a couple of years ago. I believe Matteo Berrettini averaged 90 mph for much of a tough loss to Djokovic at the French a while back.
filedata/fetch?id=100665&d=1683562244&type=thumb
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Sinner has really sprouted up in the last couple of years to, I'd guesstimate, 6' 4" and in only the last year does he seem to have "grown into his frame". Only a year ago I heard a European announcer say that "The book is to hit behind Sinner because he doesn't yet have a lot of leg strength, so changing directions is a problem." No more. Sinner was flying all over the court with deceptive speed. Long limbs even for 6'4" and he's also put on muscle.
He has such "easy power" the sheer velocity on his forehand might not be immediately evident, but the depth is. Although he lost this semifinal at Indian Wells to the eventual champ Carlos Alcaraz you could see that Sinner's depth bothers Carlos in a way I haven't seen many other forehands affect him (and are those two destined to have one of the next, great rivalries? Their H2H is 3-3 with Sinner taking their Wimbledon and Miami meetings, while Carlos won at the US Open and IW} H2H: https://www.atptour.com/en/players/a...nner/a0e2/s0ag
Photo notes: It was a grey, overcast sprinkling evening. Flat, dark light. Really lousy for photography -- except for moments when the sun set over the stadium edge. Jannik running into the sun creating highlights on his face that make this image.
Note the bent arm. More on that later.
filedata/fetch?id=100666&d=1683562186&type=thumb
For context, 81 MPH as an "average" forehand is quite fast. Basilashvili led the ATP with an ave of 80 MPH a couple of years ago. I believe Matteo Berrettini averaged 90 mph for much of a tough loss to Djokovic at the French a while back.
filedata/fetch?id=100665&d=1683562244&type=thumb
#
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