Jannik Sinner's level in 2024 was impressive for anyone. The Italian ace ended the season as world No. 1, despite Carlos Alcaraz winning Roland Garros and the Wimbledon Championships in the same year. The young Spaniard is almost 5000 points behind Jannik in the ATP ranking, a huge distance that testifies to the alien consistency of the 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria.
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Not even the well-known doping case distracted Sinner from the tennis court, although it caused him considerable stress between spring and summer. In addition, the 2-time Grand Slam champion was forced to change two members of his team during the season, relying on a new fitness coach (Marco Panichi) and a new physiotherapist (Ulises Badio).
The Italian champion had to fire Umberto Ferrara and Giacomo Naldi, both responsible for the doping case that hit the world number 1. Jannik thanked both of them, but he no longer had the confidence to continue his professional relationship with them. Unlike in past years, Sinner will carry out his training during the winter in Dubai instead of Spain. Panichi and Badio are two highly experienced professionals, having both worked for a long time with a legend like Novak Djokovic.
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Marco Panichi talks about Sinner
The Italian player won the Nitto ATP Finals last week without losing a single set, succeeding in this feat for the first time since Ivan Lendl. The world No. 1 won his eighth title after the Australian Open (Major), Rotterdam (ATP 500), Miami (Masters 1000), Halle (ATP 500), Cincinnati (Masters 1000), US Open (Major) and Shanghai (Masters 1000).
In an interview with Sky Sport Italy after the Nitto ATP Finals, his fitness coach Marco Panichi discussed Sinners amazing rise: Beyond the various Run, jump and lift weights, what matters is the communication between team members, how you manage to motivate the guys and how you find the keys to stimulate them.
Because you have to take into account that they have been doing this for years and from morning to night.
And then the cohesion between everyone is fundamental: the information that reaches the player must be univocal. This makes the difference.
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He continued: We will try to improve all the weapons that Jannik already has. In addition, we will try to improve his ability to stay on court by optimizing everything. So, also physically lasting longer.
An aspect that would allow him to always have a high cruising speed that would make him even more effective and efficient there is still a lot of work to be done on this.
This victory has a special flavor, it is magical. I was truly moved because this guy is exceptional. Seeing him happy, knowing how committed he is to training, after 40 years of doing this job, still makes a great impression.
Next goals
It will not be easy for the world number 1 to maintain this pace even in 2025, when all opponents will try to find new solutions to defeat him. Sinner will have to make further improvements from a physical point of view and become even more unpredictable on the court, thanks to the use of the slice and drop shot.
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The Italian also wants to improve his serve, which has now become an important weapon in the decisive moments of matches. Jannik plays his best tennis on hard courts, but his level has also risen a lot on red clay and grass. This year, the 2-time Grand Slam champion reached the semifinals at the French Open (losing only in the fifth set to Spaniard Carlitos Alcaraz) and the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships (he was defeated by Russian Daniil Medvedev also due to an illness before the match).
During his press conference after the ATP Finals final, Taylor Fritz reflected on Sinners improvements: What I was really impressed was how he served. He served absolutely lights out. So many, so many lines. He placed the serve great. He took a lot of risk on the second serve as well. I think that was probably one of his main game plans, is to not let me get on, attack his second serve.
He did a great job of not only mixing up the second but being very aggressive with it, not throwing in double-faults for serving bigger and being a little riskier with it. Really impressed with how he served.
It would have been incredibly tough to find a break.
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I dont even really think of that as much of a chance. Even the break point, big serve, its not much of a chance. Definitely more looks in the previous match. If I wanted a chance today, it would have needed to be in breakers.
