Jannik Sinner ‘practically unstoppable’ claims Rafael Nadal’s former coach
Jannik Sinner has been heavily praised by the uncle and former coach of Rafael Nadal, Toni Nadal, who has described the World No.1 as ‘unstoppable’ after winning the US Open title.
Sinner won his second Grand Slam title in New York on Sunday, after beating American No.1 Taylor Fritz in a straight sets final victory.
The Italian only dropped two sets in his run to the US Open title, and Toni Nadal has explained why he was so impressed by Sinner’s game.
“Today, he has become a player who is practically unstoppable for the vast majority of his opponents,” Toni Nadal wrote in El Pais newspaper. “He is capable of delivering each of his strokes with great speed and of making very few unforced errors.
“Overcoming him from the back of the court is almost impossible, and this is precisely, in my opinion, the mistake that Fritz made in the first two sets: making the wrong decision to play very fast rallies from the back of the court and trying to surprise him or hit a winner; but making the Italian miss was, as we could see, practically impossible.”
Despite winning both the US Open and the Cincinnati Masters, it has not been all plain-sailing for Sinner in recent weeks after it was announced that he had failed two anti-doping tests earlier in the year.
Sinner was found to have prohibited substance clostebol in his system, but was cleared of any wrongdoing on the grounds of contamination.
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) August 20, 2024
And Toni Nadal continued his compliments about Sinner’s mental resilience after a difficult period, suggesting that he believes the 23-year-old is innocent.
“In the week before the start of the competition we were wondering how the incessant controversy generated by his possible double doping could affect him, after the final and his magnificent performance, the Italian has shown once again that he not only has one of the best games on the circuit but also has the temperament to face really complicated situations,” explained the Spaniard. “Surely the fact that he has a clear conscience has helped him to cope.”
Sinner has chosen to miss representing Italy at the Davis Cup Finals Group Stages this week, but will return to action later this month as the defending champion in Beijing.
Thank you New York!! 🏆
Incredibly special to win my second slam title here after a great two weeks. Thank you for all the support, it means so much. I love this sport and it means everything to me, time to enjoy this moment with my team and my family before we get back to work… pic.twitter.com/oolNYXWWrk
— Jannik Sinner (@janniksin) September 8, 2024
Inside the baseline…
Jannik Sinner has definitely been the best player in the world this year, particularly on hard courts where he has won five titles, including two Grand Slams and two Masters 1000 events. Toni Nadal is probably right in that when Sinner is at his peak level it is hard to see anybody managing to compete with him, other than maybe a peaking Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic. Although there is understandably some uncomfortableness surrounding the anti-doping situation with Sinner, ever since it has came out into the public he has addressed any questions with complete openness and any answers have appeared sincere.
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