Jannik Sinner has ‘real hope’ of winning a major title in the new season but his chances of success depend on how well he can handle the occasion, according to the former coach of Roger Federer.
Ivan Ljubicic, who is also a former world No.3 player himself, has hailed Sinner’s strong end to the 2023 season where he reached the final of the ATP Finals and played a pivotal role in Italy winning the Davis Cup. During those two events, the 22-year-old won two out of his three meetings against Novak Djokovic. Overall, he has recorded 13 wins over top 10 players this year with 10 of those being against opposition ranked in the top five. He won titles in Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing and Vienna.
Speaking about the world No.4 during an interview with Tuttosport, Ljubicic notes that Sinner’s rise in the sport has been more steady compared to that of Carlos Alcaraz who has already reached world No.1 and won two major titles. Alcaraz is almost two years younger than the Italian and trails their head-to-head 3-4.
“Jannik is not like Alcaraz, who went from 40 to 1, he needs his steps,” Tennis 365 quoted Ljubicic as telling Tuttosport. “I think what he has done in the last two months, the confirmation of relentless work, has brought him closer to the goal.
“He needed certain experiences to feel comfortable in the path. At the end of 2022 I had said I was sorry that Jannik had not played important matches against the big boys. Now he has nothing more to learn. He has a perfect attitude on and off the court, in interviews he is not afraid to talk about his limitations and more.”
Given his recent success on the Tour, some believe Sinner will be a Grand Slam title contender during the new season. He has already reached the quarter-finals or better at every major tournament at least once so far in his career. His best Grand Slam performance so far was at this year’s Wimbledon Championships where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Djokovic.
“Having won the Davis Cup allows him to go into Australia with real hope. And he has beaten all the top 10,” Ljubicic commented.
“We will see him in Slam management: when you have a day if you feel the pressure, if you think a lot – and he is very reflective – you can have some more problems.
“He is surrounded by a staff of very capable people, though. His strength is character. He never goes off the deep end and is not content. When I got to No 3 I thought I had reached the top and began my downward trajectory.”
Sinner’s 2023 season saw him produce a win-loss record of 64-15 and earn more than $8.2M in prize money.