Andre Agassi has noticed one area of Jannik Sinner’s game which can still be improved despite his impressive win over Casper Ruud

Jannik Sinner has enjoyed a remarkable return to tennis after his three-month absence from the sport.

Many expected the 23-year-old to have retained his patented quality and drive to succeed, but an element of rustiness was expected given the enforced time off he took after winning the Australian Open in January.

However, having since reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open without dropping a set, and most recently destroying clay-court specialist Casper Ruud, he is back with a bang.

Andre Agassi, whilst impressed, remained keen to focus on an area of improvement.

Andre Agassi says Jannik Sinner can improve in one area

And so, speaking on Tennis Channel Live, the legendary American tennis icon was naturally complimentary of Jannik Sinner.

However, he encouraged him not to rest on his laurels, even offering some advice on how to continue improving: ‘You have to find ways to get better because there is nobody else you are being compared to at the moment.

‘In doing so, and if I had to be critical, how do I do that? I am almost embarrassed to say there are areas he needs to improve but somebody needs to do it.

‘I do think he can move people north and south a bit more than he does. I think he does sometimes run the risk of hitting the ball so clean, so consistent, so often that he may actually play players into better form than he needs to, which means it is going to take his quality to go through that, but he has the quality to go through it.

‘So I am a big fan of winning in third gear and Darren has helped him do that in a lot of ways, but I do think if he moved people a bit more north and south rather than just through the court, I think he would terrorise them.

‘Not even drop shots. I am talking about taking the same big backhand cuts and playing it off the top of the frame, to drag it a little short, so a guy has to now move forward and can’t quite get around it as much. Take a Cerundolo for example, who plays with a heavy racket, half an inch longer and can just murder forehands. If you go through the court it’s easy for someone who can do that, who has good legs, to get around their backhand. Once you start playing that thing down, not necessarily at an angle, but just a little bit shorter so if they run around they have to commit a little bit more inside the court, lift the ball and then defend the next ball moving backwards, that would end up making life a bit easier on him.’

Jannik Sinner played a faultless game against Casper Ruud

It might seem ludicrous to provide advice to a player who has just won so convincingly against a fellow top-ten competitor, but to remain the best, the elite must always be striving to improve.

Agassi certainly did that, and he will have not meant any malice by offering some further instruction to the current world number one.

However, that does not detract from the near-perfect match that Sinner played against Ruud on Thursday afternoon.

Winning 16 of the opening 18 points, the Italian started the match as he meant to go on. He would eventually allow his opponent just seven points all set, bagelling the 2025 Madrid Open champion without breaking a sweat.

It’s a testament to the pure domination Sinner exerted that the crowd, despite obviously favouring the hometown hero, gave arguably the biggest ovation to Ruud when he finally won a game in the second set.