Italian tennis great reveals one attribute of Jannik Sinner that Novak Djokovic doesn’t have

Jannik Sinner has beaten Novak Djokovic in three of their last four meetings, including the Australian Open semi-final win this year.

Italian tennis great reveals one attribute of Jannik Sinner that Novak Djokovic doesn’t have

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner (Via Imago)

Former Italian tennis great Adriano Panatta has compared the attributes of recently crowned US Open champion Jannik Sinner with those of his rivals, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. The former French Open champion even claimed that the current World No. 1 has a mentality similar to boxing legend Mike Tyson.

Sinner won the US Open title on Sunday (September 8) after a straight-set victory over home hero Taylor Fritz. Meanwhile, his rivals, Alcaraz and Djokovic, crashed out in the first week in New York.

YouTube video
Sinner is the only player who comes onto the court and doesn’t wait. I think of Tyson in the first matches, when he came in and hit until the other fell to the ground. Sinner has this mentality: he plays, then he can even miss a few balls, but he plays the match, he never waits. This is the big difference between him and the others. It’s what Alcaraz does when he is in form, and in fact he is the only one who can beat him.
Adriano Panatta said on La Telefonota podcast (H/T: Tennis365)

Sinner has had mixed results against Alcaraz and Djokovic recently. Although he trails the Serb 3-4 in head-to-head meetings, he has won three of their last four encounters, including a semi-final win at this year’s Australian Open.

FS Video
I don’t even think Djokovic can do it, maybe two sets out of three, not three out of five. Sinner never drops, he never does stupid things. In my opinion, if Sinner were to beat him two or three more times in 2024, he would become Djokovic’s nightmare, pushing him towards retirement. History teaches and usually repeats itself. [Bjorn] Borg quit with the arrival of [John] McEnroe, McEnroe retired when [Boris] Becker arrived.
Adriano Panatta added

On the other hand, World No. 1 faced Alcaraz twice in 2024, with the Spaniard claiming wins in both matches. Their encounter in the Roland Garros semifinal is arguably the best match of the season.

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Novak Djokovic congratulates Jannik Sinner on his US Open victory after viral comments on Italian’s ‘doping’

24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has congratulated Jannik Sinner on his recent US Open title win. Sinner became the first Italian man to win the Grand Slam in New York on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner (2)
Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner (Images via Imago)

Bravoooo Jannik

Novak Djokovic replied on Jannik Sinner’s Instagram post

Djokovic has been highly critical of Sinner’s doping case, which made headlines in the last week of August. The Italian tested positive twice for a banned steroid but escaped a ban from the tennis authorities.

Many former and current tennis players, including Djokovic, criticized the ruling. However, the controversy did not seem to bother Sinner, as he played an excellent tournament, dropping only two sets en route to his second Grand Slam singles title.

Djokovic was the defending champion at this year’s event but fell in the third round to Alexei Popyrin in four sets. This is the first season since 2017 that the 37-year-old will not hold any of the four Grand Slam titles.

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