Zverev and other top players trying to figure out how to stop Sinner

After joining Jannik Sinner in the Miami semi-finals on Thursday, Alexander Zverev talked about how the red-hot Italian can — or can’t — be stopped.

Jannik Sinner – © Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors

Ricky Dimon

March 29, 2024

In Jannik Sinner’s last 24 matches, only Carlos Alcaraz has figured out how to beat him. That happened in the Indian Wells semi-finals. In Sinner’s last 35 matches, only Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have taken him down. Djokovic did it in the Nitto ATP Finals championship round.

In other words, losses for Sinner are few and far between.

The 22-year-old has won four titles since the start of the 2023 fall swing (Beijing, Vienna, the Australian Open and Rotterdam — plus a Davis Cup triumph for Italy), is coming off a semi-final performance in Indian Wells and so far at the Miami Open has not dropped a single set heading into Friday’s semi-final showdown against Daniil Medvedev. Dating back to the start of Beijing he has defeated Djokovic three times and Medvedev four times.

We study him, we try to understand his game, we try to understand what can make him feel uncomfortable.
Alexander Zverev on Jannik Sinner

How can Sinner be stopped?

“I think if you have these kind of statistics, it’s very logical that you’re on the right path and you’re on the way to being there,” Zverev said of the world No 3’s chances to become No 1. “Do I think that he’s going to be as unbeatable as he is so far this year? I don’t know. Because right now he’s lost one match. It’s unbelievable. It’s a statistic like Djokovic started in his best years. (Roger) Federer started like this in his best years. [Rafael Nadal] started like this I think once in his career.

“If he keeps it (up) like that, then he’s not only going to be No 1 in the world, he’s going to be No 1 in the world for the next 10 years. But it’s up to him and it’s also up to me, up to Carlos, up to Daniil, up to Novak as well to stop him from doing that.

“Of course he’s somebody that we now probably look out for — one of two or three players that we look out for the most. We study him, we try to understand his game, we try to understand what can make him feel uncomfortable. And we’ll see if we can use it.”

SINNER, MEDVEDEV, ZVEREV ALL IN MIAMI SEMI-FINALS

Zverev, who ended Fabian Marozsan’s Miami run with a 6-3, 7-5 victory on Thursday, could get a shot at Sinner in Sunday’s final. The German will face either Alcaraz or Grigor Dimitrov in the semis, while Sinner is going up against Medvedev.

Medvedev, who is 6-4 lifetime against Sinner, is happy to be part of a great rivalry — win or lose.

“I am happy to be part of the greatest rivalries on the tennis tour,” the Russian said on Wednesday. “In the past I showed I was able to be the winner in that matchup (with Sinner) and that’s definitely what I will try to do again. With me that’s easy; okay, you create souvenirs when you play a big match — but if you lose, you try not to think about it.”