Jannik Sinner reached the final twice at the Miami Open, ATP Masters 1000 played on the Hard Rock Stadium, in Florida. He did it two years apart, and unfortunately in both cases he was defeated. The first time, in 2021, his friend Hubert Hurkacz was the executioner, yesterday instead a tennis player of another high caliber like Daniil Medvedev.
The evidence, however, tells of a clearly growing Sinner, capable of churning out exceptional performances such as the one against the furious Spanish Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. One who knows about important victories like Adriano Panatta expressed himself on the Italian’s moment, who declared on the Italian tv show La Domenica Sportiva: “He wasn’t the same player who had faced Alcaraz, he was more tired and his legs didn’t turn as usual.
After all, they are very tough matches that leave their mark. He is not yet a 100% physically trained tennis player, he is still a boy, not a man. Sure, he’s improved a lot, he’s put on four to five kilos of muscle, but he still doesn’t have that experience and preparation to always play at a certain level.
He’s an extraordinary guy, very strong technically and mentally, but he’s still not like Medvedev and Novak Djokovic.”
Panatta: “Jannik can play well everywhere”
Having filed the course on the illustrious concretes of Indian Wells and Miami, however brilliant given the results achieved, it is time for Jannik Sinner to concentrate on the season on clay.
The Italian has repeatedly proved that he knows how to be competitive on every surface and still has plenty of room for improvement to aim at doing something really important. Adriano Panatta himself is also convinced of this, who expressed himself in these terms on Sinner’s imminent arrival on clay.
He said: “I think he can play well anywhere, on any surface, because he has improved certain aspects of the game. He still has some things to learn, lucky for him, on clay where the point is more elaborate, the short ball is used a little more and where you slide.
I want to see him in the Grand Slams, because we all expect him to win a tournament of this type. He will surely win a 1000, sooner or later, don’t worry. In the Majors we need to see if he can physically manage two weeks, three sets out of five. You have to be tough, he is, but in those tournaments it’s another sport.”
