Jannik Sinner cut an open and rather insightful figure in the immediate aftermath of his US Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.
After all, it had been a rather humbling experience for the 24-year-old, beaten on his favourite surface at an event where he was the defending champion in rather straightforward fashion.
Carlos Alcaraz was, of course, inspired, but that did not tell the full story for Sinner.
His serving was not good enough, and he paid the ultimate price, losing in a Grand Slam final, and in turn losing the world number one spot too.
So, it can be easily explained why he was so emotional after the match.
Jannik Sinner hands crucial advice after US Open final loss
David Law, speaking on The Tennis Podcast, sought to review Jannik Sinner’s reaction, admitting he was alarmed by the way in which the five-time Grand Slam champion spoke about his own game.
He described himself in simple, almost boring fashion: as a solid baseliner.
The pundit would claim: “He was almost like he was jealous of Carlos today, and he wanted to be like him.
“And I do think that that was his version of a real emotional reaction to today, and a sort of looking at himself as if, oh, I’m rubbish, I’m nowhere near as good as him, you know, look at all the stuff he can do. I can’t do that. I want to be able to do that.
“And I do think he’s fundamentally wrong because I don’t think, if he’s serious, I think he’s going to be disappointed, because he’s not gonna be able to turn himself into Carlos Alcaraz. Not the way Alcaraz has kind of been able to turn himself into Jannik Sinner today.
“It’s easier for somebody without array of skills if you can get the right mental approach to lock down and do one thing a lot better, serve and be more solid from the baseline than it is for a player who’s a great baseline, well, the best baseline as just a standard baseliner, like Jannik Sinner is to suddenly expect him to be able to do all the stuff that that Alcaraz can, to have that degree of variety.
“Maybe it’s maybe it is more incremental than that, really. And I think the incremental changes would make sense to be a little less predictable. And I already think he’s added those things to his game over the last couple of years. But come on, Jannik, you know, I know this head-to-head looks like Sinner has a problem with Alcaraz, but it really doesn’t feel like that.”
Law finished by referencing the Australian Open, imploring Sinner not to completely overhaul his game in time for that event: “It could easily go the other way, Sinner could easily win that tournament, but I would strongly advise against trying to overhaul your game, Jannik, as a way to do it. You just don’t need to.”
What Jannik Sinner said about Carlos Alcaraz after losing the US Open final
Speaking at his US Open press conference after the loss, the full version of Sinner’s claims about Alcaraz, which left Law worried, was even more interesting.
He noted: “I was very predictable today on court.
“He did many things; he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not. That’s definitely [what] we are going to work on. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match that I will play against him.”
Sinner finished by vowing that he was willing to sacrifice his ruthless consistency in favour of targeting wins over his generational rival.
He admitted: “So I’m going to aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day, that’s my main goal.”
John McEnroe did admit he was surprised by Sinner during the US Open final, and what he failed to do.
