Jannik Sinner starred in Monaco last week and was good value for his title.
In beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final, he claimed the first big clay-court trophy of his already-exceptional career, whilst also regaining the world number one spot from his great rival.
With so much on the line, he performed admirably, dealing with adverse and unforeseen weather conditions to battle through unscathed.
However, his coach, Simone Vagnozzi, insists there is still room for growth.
He discussed their plans for improvement, whilst also referencing which surface he thinks is Jannik Sinner’s best.
Simone Vagnozzi claims Jannik Sinner must still improve after Monte Carlo title
Speaking at his press conference after the final, he began by discussing the tournament in general before touching on the final.
Vagnozzi began by admitting: “Winning here was one of the seasonal objectives. Every day, he’s improved his level, and the match was neck and neck.
What do you think is Carlos Alcaraz’s best surface and why?
“The conditions weren’t the best because of the wind. Last Thursday, we started working on playing with more spin, trying drop shots and more variations in general with the ball. This type of champion senses the trophy and the victory and the confidence he gained from winning in America was fundamental to winning here.”
Before the tournament, Alcaraz admitted he was surprised that Sinner decided to play Monte Carlo, but Vagnozzi has since claimed that skipping it was never an option.
The Italian added: “We never thought about not playing here; Jannik wanted to play here in front of the Italian crowd. What we did after Doha was important because, physically, he’s always moved well. The thing that makes me proudest of him is his ability to read matches and do different things against everyone. We knew we had to adapt coming here, but we knew he could do well.”
Vagnozzi concluded by discussing the intricacies between the surfaces, before sharing one area where Sinner still needs to improve.
“He’s reaching a very high level on clay,” he began. “When I arrived, I thought he played better on clay than on hard courts. We haven’t decided yet whether to go to Madrid or not; we’ll let a few days pass and then decide.
“One detail to improve is the fact that if someone starts returning from way back, it throws you off your game. In the tie-break, he served very well, but both of them struggled to find their first serve because of the wind, but both know that on the second serve, each can do something. The conditions being so slow meant there were fewer points on serve. Jannik’s main quality is that he always manages to put in 100% effort.
“The thing that strikes me from a human perspective is that, despite everything, despite what he’s won, he hasn’t changed as a person. Jannik’s diet is overseen by professionals, and we mustn’t let doubts creep into his mind. The important thing is to stay focused and calm. We need to keep understanding what he’s doing well and continue to follow that path.”
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner speak about the Monte Carlo final conditions
As briefly mentioned earlier, the conditions played a huge role in Sunday’s Monte Carlo Masters final.
After all, it stopped the two best players in the world from being able to play at their very best, limiting the risk they could take and forcing them to play with far more margin.
Alas, at times, neither chose to take that safe option. That resulted in Alcaraz firing off an uncharacteristic 45 unforced errors, with a total of 93 unforced errors between them throughout the match.
Will Jannik Sinner complete the Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros this year? 🤔
If not, who do you think will win Roland Garros?
Sinner spoke about the conditions after the final, admitting: “Today was not a very high level from both of us. It was windy. Very different conditions from what the tournament has brought until today.”
Alcaraz would echo that sentiment, although he was insistent that this was no excuse: “I think today was really difficult conditions, because I just consider myself that I play great tennis when there is a lot of wind. Today’s wind was a little bit tricky because it wasn’t in just one direction.
“It was twirling around. One point you play a point with the wind helping and the next point it was totally opposite. So it was tricky to understand where the wind goes.”
