Jannik Sinner Fires Warning to Opponents With Incredible Stat After Winning Australian Open 2024 First Round Match

Jannik Sinner got off to the start he was looking for, winning his Round of 128 at the Australian Open 2024 on Sunday. Sinner beat Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in under 2 hours at the Rod Laver Arena. But what impressed the most was how Sinner closed out the first set despite visibly looking rusty, thanks to a big improvement in his service game.

Sinner has been criticised in the past for not being able to dictate terms with his serve. However, in recent times, he has worked on it so much that on Sunday, he pulled off a remarkable 80% win percentage on his second serve. This was 25 percent more than his opponent’s.

On the first serve, Sinner and Zandschulp had win percentages of 68 and 64 respectively. So that second serve did make a huge difference, which for Jannik Sinner, came at an average speed of 164 km/hr. This is 26 km/hr lesser than his first serve average, which is not too bad and making him more potent in his service game.

Even in the second set, that second serve was the key for Jannik Sinner. He had a win percentage of 73 as compared to his opponent’s 31. So while Zandschulp did fare better on the first serve to have some good service games, Sinner managed to eke out points in big moments because of the second serve, which is considered to be a moment when players try to be protective and play with fear in order to not double fault.

In the third set, the World No.4 won more receiving points than his opponent and had the advantage of a better first serve, which showed that he had mentally drained Zandschulp. That induced mistakes which eased things for Jannik Sinner to win the set 6-3 and close out the match.

Interestingly, Jannik Sinner might take on another Dutch player in the next round, named Jesper de Jong. But de Jong would have to beat Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in his first round match on Sunday.

Jannik Sinner makes fun of coach Darren Cahill

After the match, Jannik Sinner was asked about how he managed to have an interpersonal dynamic with legendary Australian tennis coach, Darren Cahill. Cahill is considered to be more massy and laidback, while Sinner is perceived to be sophisticated and someone obsessed with the game. The coach did get some cheers from the Melbourne crowd on his name being taken by the interviewer due to his nationality and achievements.

Cahill won the ATP Coach of the Year award in 2023 and is responsible for producing Grand Slam champions or World No.1 players in the past, like Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep. However, he was very sporting in taking Sinner’s tongue-in-cheek humor, which fans loved as well on social media.

Sinner said that he is Cahill’s coach for imparting Italian knowledge to him and which pasta is good for him to eat and which isn’t. The World No.4 credited Cahill for making him destressed in the off season and come back fresher for the Australian Open, rather than going overboard in his preparations.