Andy Roddick believes that Jannik Sinner is the first player that he’s seen hitting ‘straight’ through’ Novak Djokovic – a tactic which proved fruitful.
The Italian was victorious 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) in a high-quality semi-final at the French Open, a match which lasted over three sets.
Djokovic was consistently on the backfoot from the baseline, and sought to – instead – maximise his serving prowess.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen someone go through Novak, like straight through him. Sinner is the first person I have seen do that,” Roddick, a former Grand Slam champion, said after watching the Parisian encounter.
“Even when Alcaraz beats him it’s drop shots, quick bang tennis. There is a little more variety. It’s the first time I have seen someone take the middle of the court from Novak over and over and over again.
“Not for a point, not for a set. But Novak had to try and stay away from the centre of the court and that’s where he has made his living. You can’t go through him. Sinner can, and he did.”
Indeed, the world No 1 has now gained the lead in his head-to-head against Novak Djokovic for the first time in his career, with it standing at 5-4.
Sinner has now won 20 consecutive Grand Slam matches and has been victorious in four of his last five matches against the Serb.
The Italian laid down 44 winners, whilst only conceding 36 unforced errors. Djokovic, on the other hand, hit nine fewer winners and 17 more unforced errors.
“I felt constantly under pressure,” Djokovic admitted, during his post-match press conference.
“He didn’t allow me to kind of like have time to swing through the ball. He was just constantly on the line, trying to make me defend.”
“I think mentally he deserved big credit for hanging in there in the tough moments when the whole stadium was cheering.
“It was set points down, and he managed to find some really good shots. He showed why he’s No 1 in the world.”
Latest French Open News
Tim Henman gives his verdict on Jannik Sinner’s ‘perfect gameplay’
Novak Djokovic makes startling retirement comments after Jannik Sinner defeat
Tim Henman shared similar thoughts to Roddick about Sinner’s ‘perfect’ gameplay.
“You start off with 128 players in both draws and you get down to two and they’re the top two is very special,” he told TNT Sports.
“It was a perfect gameplay from Sinner. He was looking to boss proceedings from the back of the court, take the ball when he got the opportunities.
“Djokovic fought so hard to level things up in the second set. Djokovic definitely had his moments but the speed and dexterity of Sinner was impressive again.
“When Djokovic had set point, he was going for his shots but Sinner stayed so aggressive. He really was relentless and was getting Djokovic into the defensive positions. It was an amazing performance.”
As a result of the victory, Sinner moves into his first French Open final and will face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
The two have met on 11 occasions, but none of these meetings have occurred at Grand Slam level.
Alcaraz has won all of their last four meetings, including a 7-6(5), 6-1 victory at the Rome Masters just three weeks prior to the French Open showpiece match.
The post Andy Roddick says that Jannik Sinner is the first player to employ this strategy against Novak Djokovic appeared first on Tennis365.
Tennis News – Tennis365