There is no stopping the Jannik Sinner Express. The in-form Italian is on course to clinch his maiden ATP Finals title after winning all three of his group games in Turin. His latest victim was Daniil Medvedev.
The 23-year-old had little trouble in getting past the Russian, registering a 6-3, 6-4 win. Even though this rivalry has become one-sided recently, not many would believe that a year ago, Medvedev was the dominant force between the two.
As surprising as it may seem, Medvedev was leading this battle 6-0 after beating Sinner in the final of the 2023 Miami Open. Not long after that loss, Sinner gave an interview about his struggles against Medvedev. A year and a half later, that interview has now gone viral.
During the 2023 Barcelona Open, Sinner was asked to name the player he did not like playing against. He responded –
“Don’t like playing? No. But I take it as a very very big challenge. Medvedev, head-to-head, I’m far back. But these are challenges where I go out of the court when I lose; I try to prepare in the best possible way already for the next matchup, seeing what I can do. These are the kind of players who I don’t know have something… it’s tough to handle.”
Sinner began his preparation for Mission Medvedev shortly after. He registered his first win over the Russian at the Beijing Open in October 2023. Since then, the Italian has been nearly unstoppable. Barring the quarter-final loss in this year’s Wimbledon, Sinner has won all of his contests against Medvedev in this period – eight out of nine, to be precise.
Sinner is probably one of the top five hitters on Tour: Medvedev
Despite losing his head-to-head battle for the third successive time, Medvedev has only good words to say about the World No.1. He finds it hard to believe that Sinner not only fails to miss his shots but also produces a lot of power in them.
“I watched his practice before the match. He barely misses a shot and he hits strong. Many times, a lot of players that don’t miss a lot, at least they don’t hit strong. He can hit strong, very strong, probably one of maybe top three, four, five hitters on Tour, and doesn’t miss,” Medvedev said.
The 2021 US Open champion also feels that Carlos Alcaraz might be the only one who seems to have figured out a way to get past Sinner. And he reckons that should the same continue, not only him but the entire tennis fraternity would struggle to handle the 23-year-old in the coming years.
“It’s not easy to beat him. A lot of people try. A lot of people fail. There is mostly one guy who does it a little bit more times than the others, and it’s Carlos [Alcaraz]. He’s a very, very strong opponent. Maybe at one point he loses his confidence, starts to miss some balls. Otherwise, everyone, not only me, is in for very, very tough years ahead of us because he’s very young.”
Medvedev is not wrong here. Sinner has been in incredible form lately. In his last four ATP tournaments, the Italian has won three of them, including a Grand Slam, and lost only one – to Alcaraz in the final of the China Open.
With Alcaraz struggling with fitness and form in Turin, it’s difficult to predict who will stop the Sinner juggernaut. Even looking beyond the year-end tournament, the Italian’s future remains bright. And he could very well emerge as the next unstoppable force in the tennis world. This would undoubtedly be bad news for his opponents.