Novak Djokovic, in hindsight, may have made a grave error by providing Jannik Sinner with a kind gesture all those years ago.
The Serbian superstar has always been a keen advocate for the sport of tennis, whether that be fighting for the rights of his fellow players or arguing whilst on the court for what he feels is right.
After all, he is a wise and trusted figure, and one of the best players the sport has ever seen.
As one of the veterans on tour, despite his continued presence at the apex of the sport, he remains a figure that people feel they can approach for advice.
Flavio Cobolli is one such player who, throughout this ongoing Wimbledon campaign, has been gushing in his admiration for Novak Djokovic, seeking to learn whatever possible from him.
Once upon a time, there was a different young Italian seeking counsel from the serial winner.
The advice Novak Djokovic once gave to Jannik Sinner
In fact, it was Jannik Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, who revealed the kind gesture that Djokovic made all the way back in 2022.
He claimed: “Novak was one of the guys that I just went up to and straight asked him after Novak beat Jannik at Wimbledon in five sets.
“And a lot of the best players will say, “Yeah, he’s a great player, he’s gonna be good. He does everything really well. Keep working hard,” all the sort of vanilla stuff, but not Novak.
“Novak kind of broke his game down where, hey, listen, he needs more variation and needs to improve that serve, he needs to come to the net a little bit more, and he really helped us.
“Not that we didn’t know where the improvements were going to come from, but more for the fact that Jannik hearing it from Novak gave him a real perspective as to where he needed to improve. So Novak was really helpful to us three years ago in making sure that we’ve made those changes in his game.”
Djokovic’s advice for Sinner has clearly helped transform him into the three-time major champion he is today, and a real nemesis for the former.
Novak Djokovic has helped create a monster in Jannik Sinner
Although he was only trying to help nurture the next generation, Djokovic has inadvertently created a monster. And one that is now regularly proving to be his undoing.
Yesterday marked the fourth straight defeat that the 24-time Grand Slam champion suffered at Sinner’s hands, two of which have come in majors.
Were it not for this supreme Italian, who has made remarkable improvements across the last two years, there’s every chance that the 38-year-old would have captured the elusive 25th major that he so desperately craves.
It’s the final piece of the puzzle for Djokovic, and he has not been secretive about this desire either.
What’s more frustrating is that he has proven that, on his day, he can beat Alcaraz. After all, he did so in Melbourne this year, and in the Olympic finals last year too.
Sinner, however, is proving far trickier, and this is the very monster that he helped create.
