Jannik Sinner has been very honest about his game after his first two matches at Wimbledon.
Sinner beat Nuno Borges to reach the third round of Wimbledon and therefore continued his title defence.
This was a much more comfortable victory for Sinner than his first round win over Miomir Kecmanovic, but it was still not quite up to his usual dominant standards.
Sinner has spoken about the improvements he wants to make to his game at Wimbledon, and it has now been revealed what he told Caroline Wozniacki about his forehand privately.
Jannik Sinner told Caroline Wozniacki his forehand is ‘not very good’ at the moment
Andy Roddick discussed Sinner’s first two matches at Wimbledon on his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast, particularly highlighting the 43 unforced errors he hit on his forehand.
The former US Open champion is at Wimbledon this year as a broadcaster, and Roddick revealed that another former world number one in Wozniacki spoke to Sinner, where he made an admission about his forehand not being up to scratch.
“On the forehand side last year in the first two rounds he hit 14 unforced errors. This year, through the first two rounds, on the forehand side, he has hit 43 unforced errors,” said Roddick.
“It’s significant. Someone asked him in press how is the forehand and he said it’s not great. He told Caroline Wozniacki that casually. She was like ‘hey how is it going?’ And he said ‘my forehand is not very good right now’. I was like okay, I would have probably lied to her about that.
“He is searching for a little something. His serve bailed him out a little bit. Borges did play pretty well and served for the second set and got tight.
“I think Jannik is still searching a little bit. Against [Jenson] Brooksby he is going to be able to hit a bunch of balls. Jenson is going to have to play a bunch of drop shots and switch directions. He can’t get straight ahead of him. Novak [Djokovic] looked way sharper today than Jannik.”
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Andy Roddick explains what impresses him about Jannik Sinner despite his forehand issues
Although Sinner has been hitting an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors on his forehand, Roddick has been impressed by his willingness to stay committed on the shot and compared him to NBA star Steph Curry.
“It was weird because he was missing some and he would miss it wildly and then it would be great again,” added Roddick.
“The thing which is impressive because people will harp on like it’s a negative, but the thing I am impressed with is when presented with a negative what is the superpower? Most of us would lay off and start guiding the forehand.
“This guy is like Steph Curry shooting. He knows he is going to make the next one. He kept ripping. There was no lay off. The next one is heavy again. There is no other gear. The guy puts more pace on the ball more consistently than maybe anybody I have seen from extended positions.
“I am always amazed when I see Jannik in person and this one was especially cool because I was at eye level [in the commentary box]. He hits it so hard so when you are watching from home you can see how hard he is hitting it, but you can’t have any appreciation for how hard he is hitting it over the net.
“It looks flat on TV but this thing is clearing the net by two feet every time. It has an arc to it even when he rips it. The amount of margin he has over the net on an average forehand is shocking considering how hard he hits the ball. It’s amazing.”
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
Sinner will look to lower the number of unforced errors in his third round match against Jenson Brooksby.
This is the first time Sinner has played Brooksby in five years, and he will look to beat the American again when they face off at Wimbledon on Friday, July 3.
