Adding on to the two Grand Slams, the World No.1 ranking, and the ATP Finals win, Jannik Sinner concluded a stellar 2024 season by lifting the Davis Cup title. To hype Sinner’s incredible season, the tennis community has been praising the Italian youngster with comparisons to other all-time greats such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andre Agassi.
Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ former coach, went above and beyond with his praise for the San Candido native. The popular coach explained in an interview with Tennis Majors why he believed that Sinner was better than Djokovic.
The Frenchman highlighted numerous qualities of Sinner’s that made him impossible to defeat. However, his excellent movement and counter-punching were some traits in particular that led to Mouratoglou regarding the 23-year-old as “Djokovic 2.0”.
“Same qualities as Novak and I think he added 2.0 because he is playing faster by taking the balls earlier. I think what makes Sinner very special is his ability to play at an incredibly high pace without missing… When you attack him, he counter punches.”
According to the 54-year-old coach, Sinner is almost undefeatable with his aggressive playstyle with little to no unforced errors committed.
“When you are very aggressive taking the balls early, giving no time to your opponent and making an extremely limited number of unforced errors, how do you play against a guy like that?” Mouratoglou exclaimed.
Patrick M has frequently praised Sinner throughout the season. In fact, comparing Sinner to an all-time great isn’t new for Mouratoglou.
Patrick M explains what part of Sinner’s game is similar to Agassi’s
Earlier, the coach found similarities between Sinner and Andre Agassi’s game. He had spoken highly about the Italian prodigy’s ball-striking ability, comparing it to the retired American legend. During a podcast appearance, the Frenchman told Nick Kyrgios,
“The way he hits the ball his timing, his ability to never move back, for me is Agassi but modern. Because the guy never steps back. Ball striking is a joke – he cuts the trajectories all the time. He plays so fast and it looks normal when he does it doesn’t look an effort.”
Sinner is constantly improving different aspects of his game, and he keeps adding trophies to his stacked resume. While he’s not yet as dominant on clay courts as he is on grass and hard courts, the rapid pace of his skill development suggests that drawing comparisons to certain elements of Rafael Nadal’s game could one day be well within reach.
