Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

What Aspect of Jannik Sinner’s Game Has Seen the Most Growth in 2024?

What Has Been Jannik Sinner's Biggest Improvement in 2024?

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday October 13, 2024

Tennis isn’t about what happens to you, on or off the court, says Jannik Sinner. It’s about how you react to what happens to you that really matters. Nobody knows that better than the World No.1 in 2024. He has risen to remarkable heights this season, winning two majors and seven titles overall after his triumph over Novak Djokovic in Shanghai on Sunday, but he has also been faced with difficult challenges that threatened to throw the 23-year-old dynamo into a tailspin.

Faced with doping charges stemming from two positive tests for the performance enhancing substance clostebol, Sinner had to work to clear his name. He did so, and revealed the news of his controversy to the world, just before this year’s US Open.

In the wake of such a bombshell it would have been normal for Sinner to crumble under the pressure, but he rose instead, capturing his second major title in Flushing Meadows.

But the controversy that won’t quit has continued to follow Sinner. After news hit that WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency – is appealing his case and aiming for a 1-2 year ban, Sinner still compartmentalizes and continues his winning ways.

Tennis Express

How has Sinner, who improved to 65-6 on the season this weekend in Shanghai, and locked up the ATP’s year-end No.1 ranking for good measure, done it?

Stamina, both mental and physical.

“I feel that physically I’m ready to play for a longer amount of time at the highest level possible,” he said. “Also mentally I’m ready to accept every tough situation on the court, and I think that’s the biggest step I made forward,” Sinner said.

“Just trying to stay as calm as possible, and even to keep working hard. It doesn’t really matter if you have a good week or a bad week, just trying to improve daily, whenever you have a chance to, trying out new things, trying to see new things… and trying to be mature enough to understand what’s working… I feel like that for me made a big impact this year, and hopefully it’s going to help me also for the next year.”

Despite the glittering success he’s had this season, Sinner admits that the circumstances of his doping case have taken a toll. The joy is not quite what he’d like it to be.

“I know this year has been very, very tough for me because of other circumstances, and at points I lost a little bit of smile because I had some issues off the court, and then they’re still in my mind sometimes,” he said. “It’s never easy to play in these kind of circumstances where I am in.”

Sinner says that he can’t avoid thinking about his current dilemma, but he also takes comfort in some of the lessons learned in 2024. Lesson No.1? No matter what happens in the future, he won’t let success change him.

“I have moments where I think about it, which is not comfortable, and not the best part,” he said. “So, yeah, you take the success in a different way, and I think that’s what I learned is that the success will never change me as a person, or as a player also.”