Jannik Sinner hopes to play as many matches as possible before the US Open with his sights set on improving one particular aspect of his game.
The world No.1 returned to action at the Canadian Masters on Thursday where he defeated Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-2, 6-4, in his first match since losing in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. The Italian withdrew from last week’s Olympic tennis event following medical advice after contracting tonsillitis.
“I was very happy and excited to go back on court,” the 22-year-old said after beating Coric.
“For sure it was a tough match, but I served quite well in important moments and returned well in the games when I broke him.”
Sinner has made his way through to the third round whilst some of his fellow rivals suffered shock defeats with Dannil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitspas and Tommy Paul all crashing out. As a result, should the top seed make is through to the semi-final stage he is guaranteed to face an unseeded opponent.
“I don’t watch about whoever lost or won,” he states.
“At the moment I watch myself, my game, what I have to improve and what I have to do to get better. I think that’s the most important thing at the moment for me.”
As to what he wants to improve, he singles out his serve as the main area. Against Coric, Sinner won 75% (40/53) of his service points and hit a total of nine aces. According to the ATP, he is currently ranked fifth in the Infosys serve leaders which is based on a player’s performances over the past 52 weeks.
“(I want) to play as many matches as possible in the U.S. swing now but to do that I have to improve my serve a little bit.” Sinner explained.
“I’m trying to move the ball around. I tried some variations (against Coric), which didn’t work as I wanted to, but I know in my mind that that’s the right way and the right path, trying to be more unpredictable on court.”
Sinner is seeking his fifth title of the season this week in Montreal. He has already won the Australian Open, Rotterdam Open, Miami Masters and the Halle Open.
