New business by Jannik Sinner who triumphed at the Miami Open beating the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the final with a clear 6-3, 6-1. The 22-year-old from South Tyrol thus overtakes Carlos Alcaraz and becomes the first Italian to reach the number 2 position in the ranking, as well as the only Italian to have won two Masters 1000 since this category of tournaments has existed. It is still difficult to say what place Jannik Sinner from San Candido, Alta Pusteria, will have in the history of tennis, who today – after a lightning final won in Miami against Igor Dimitrov – becomes number 2 in the world rankings (a year ago, after the final lost here against the Russian Medvedev, was number 11). If he will already be King of the circuit in 2024, perhaps after Paris or Wimbledon, or if we will have to wait a few more months. Of course, we know that the accession to the throne will happen soonbecause no one like him has demonstrated in the post-Fab Four era a similar capacity for improvement, both technically and in mental approach to matches.
Two weeks ago, after going out in the semi-finals at Indian Wells, defeated by Carlos Alcaraz, he said that that match had shown him and his team what was the terrain on which to work in the near future: the unpredictability of his own game, made by always with a suffocating dribble from the baseline, rare descents to the net, some dampening with the forehand. No sooner said than done. Fifteen days of training and two small but fundamental innovations appear: a systematic use of the counterattack on the opponent's strong side, non-risky relief balls with lots of spin to distance the opponent from the field and change the pace of the exchange. In the last year Sinner had already fixed his serve, which today yields around ten aces per match, and the muscles of his legs and back, now finally robust and resistant even over long distances (withdrawals due to blisters or sciatica seem like distant memories) .
Improvements assessed in consultation with Simone Vagnozzi and Daren Cahill and implemented in training, even at the cost of missing some tournaments (this year no Marseille and no Dubai). Result: five consecutive victories against Medvedev who had beaten him in the first 6 head-to-head matches. In 12 months Sinner has become the bête noire of his bête noire.
Today no one like him knows how to learn quickly from mistakes, quickly repairing the holes in his game and showing up in the next match even stronger. No one like him knows how to find the best concentration during the decisive points of a match. Technique and “hand” evolve with every match, almost every 15. The throne of King of tennis is one step away, perhaps less.