Jannik Sinner believes he needs to make adjustments to his game after falling in four sets to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the US Open on Sunday.
The Italian entered the final showdown on a 27-match winning streak at hardcourt Grand Slam events but came up short against an inspired Alcaraz, who has now won six major titles at the age of 22. Despite Sinner’s success on the Tour, he has struggled against Alcaraz in recent months, winning just one out of their eight Tour-level meetings since the start of 2024. His sole victory was in this year’s Wimbledon final.
Reflecting on his current performance, the 24-year-old believes he needs to add more variety and take greater risks with his game to keep up with his rival.
“I was very predictable on court in the way he did many things, he changed up the game,” Sinner said during his press conference.
“That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not. We are going to work on that.
“I’m going to aim to, maybe even lose some matches from now, and try to make some changes. Trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player because I think that’s what I have to do to become a better tennis player. That’s my main goal.”
Throughout his latest match, Sinner at times struggled with his serve, which he later admitted ‘was not on point.’ He managed to get only 48% of his first serves in and won less than half of his second service points (48%). On top of that, he hit 20 fewer winners (21-41) than Alcaraz.
Whilst the statistics are disappointing for a player of Sinner’s ability, he has hailed the performance of his rival.
“I give lots of credit to him because he handled the situation better than I did,” he said.
“He was doing everything slightly better, especially serving, both sides, both swings very clean. He raised his level when he had to.
“I’m still proud of myself, about the season I’m playing and making. But he played better than me.”
Sinner has been dethroned from the top of the ATP rankings after holding the No.1 spot continuously since June 10th, 2024. There is a strong possibility that he could play Alcaraz again this season with two Masters 1000 events and the ATP Finals still to take place.
“I’m going to change a couple of things on the serve, just small things but they can make big differences,” he explained.
“I’m looking forward to playing these matches again. Something new is now I’m not No. 1 anymore, so it also changes a little bit that you chase. It’s different.”
Sinner heads into the Asian swing with a win-loss record of 37-5 so far this season.
