“With Simone Vagnozzi, I changed my backhand a bit, especially the sliced backhand” – Sinner

He may not be as famous as Jannik Sinner‘s previous coach, Ricardo Piatti, or his other advisor, Darren Cahill. But Simone Vagnozzi, who has been with the Italian since the beginning of 2022, cannot be accused of having done a bad job with his young compatriot, who has established himself as the leading player on the ATP at the start of the 2024 season by compiling 19 victories in a row and clinching his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

After reaching the quarter-finals of the Miami Open at the expense of the tricky Christopher O’Connell, Sinner paid tribute to Vagnozzi, giving some small details on the technical work done alongside him, especially on the backhand side.

“Technically and tactically, he’s one of the best coaches in the world,” the current world No 1 told his post-match press conference.

“He doesn’t have that rigidity of wanting a player to play in a specific way, but he observes and adapts according to the way he plays. And that’s very, very rare.”

“So, after Simone watched me, we decided to change my backhand a little bit technically, because he had spotted a few things that he felt would work better for me,” Sinner continued.

“Especially on my sliced backhand. Now, I don’t place my left hand at the top like the majority of players do with the two-handed backhand, but I prepare as if I were going to play a normal backhand.

“It’s not very academic, but it works… He’s not just here to be there, he’s amazing and I feel lucky to have him on my team.”

Sinner, who has also shown great progress in terms of variety since the beginning of the season, will face Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals in Miami, where he has twice made the final.

You might also like this

Sinner excited for “new opportunity” in Miami

tennis majors

Alcaraz stops Sinner in Indian Wells, through to first final since Cincinnati

tennis majors

Sinner focused on recovery and Miami, not dwelling on the end of winning streak

tennis majors

“Those are the matches I live for” – Shelton relishing Sinner challenge ahead of Indian Wells clash

tennis majors