Jannik Sinner’s red-hot form makes him the man to beat at Wimbledon

Everything you need to know about Jannik Sinner can be summed up in the words he uttered in the immediate aftermath of his painful defeat against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals here last year. “I’m going to learn about this and hopefully I can improve.”

And improve he did. This time last year, Sinner was ranked No 8 in the world, an obvious talent but somewhat overshadowed by the meteoric rise of Carlos Alcaraz, who had already been ranked No 1 and had become a grand slam title winner. As Sinner was licking his wounds, Alcaraz won his first Wimbledon and the gap seemed to be widening.

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Since then, though, the Italian has been tearing it up. He has won six ATP titles since Wimbledon, helped Italy to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1976, won his first grand slam title and become the first Italian man to top the ATP rankings. He is 38-3 in 2024 so far, with his only defeats coming against Alcaraz (twice) and Stefanos Tsitsipas. After recovering from a hip injury, he reached the semi-finals at the French Open and showed his grass‑court prowess by winning in Halle just over a week ago.

Sinner’s ability has always been clear since he first broke through by reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2020, giving Rafael Nadal a hard time. Since then, his progress has been steady, if not spectacular, always looking to learn, always working on new things, always looking for the next step.

Under the expert tutelage of Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, his serve has been rebuilt in the past year, but he has never rushed his progress. As Ivan Ljubicic, the former coach of Roger Federer and a mainstay of the Sky Italia commentary team, said last summer: “He’s not going to explode out of nowhere. He’s a thinker. He’s somebody who’s going to make slow moves up there.”

What Sinner has achieved over the past nine months has made him a superstar in Italy. Winning the Davis Cup for the first time in almost 50 years was one thing; becoming the first man from his country to be ranked world No 1 was another. Sinner is massive news at home and now it feels like he has the chance to win Wimbledon for the first time.

His movement is out of this world. Andy Roddick, three times a runner-up in SW19, said last week how impressed he had been at the 22-year-old’s court coverage in Halle, a notoriously difficult court to move well on. When at full stretch, his long levers help him produce full power, and since Cahill joined the team in the summer of 2022, his willingness to move forward and his skill at the net have been obvious. Sinner is the fourth player Cahill has coached to No 1, after Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Simona Halep.

But perhaps what stands out most is Sinner’s humility. Immediately after winning the Australian Open in January, he talked with his coaches about wanting to improve again, never settling for what he has achieved. Hailing from south Tyrol on the Austrian border, Sinner was a champion junior skier, but after choosing tennis when he was about 12 he left home at 14 to train full time with the famed coach Riccardo Piatti in Bordighera, more than 400 miles away, near the border with France. It was a tough change but Sinner says his parents never put any undue pressure on him. “They’re the perfect parents,” he said in Melbourne.

All that has led to this point, where Sinner arrives at Wimbledon as the favourite, alongside Alcaraz, for the title. If the seedings go to plan, the pair would play each other in the semi‑finals for what would be their 10th meeting, with almost all of the previous nine encounters (Alcaraz winning five) spectacular.

Centre Court (1.30pm start)

[3] C Alcaraz (Sp) v M Lajal (Est)

[22] E Alexandrova (Rus) v E Raducanu (GB)

C Dolehide (US) v C Gauff (US) [2]

No 1 Court (1pm start)

A Kovacevic (US) v D Medvedev (Rus) [5]

E Bektas (US) v A Sabalenka (Blr) [3]

[1] J Sinner (It) v Y Hanfmann (Ger)

No 2 Court (11am start)

[10] G Dimitrov (Bul) v D Lajovic (Srb)

S Wawrinka (Sui) v C Broom (GB)

N Osaka (Jpn) v D Parry (Fr)

V Azarenka (Blr) v S Stephens (US)

No 3 Court (11am start)

A Bolt (Aus) v C Ruud (Nor) [8]

[7] J Paolina (It) v S Sorribes Tormo (Sp)

M Trevisan (It) v M Keys (US) [12]

[12] T Paul (US) v P Martínez (Sp)

This will be Sinner’s first grand slam event as the world No 1, which brings its own pressures. And there are dangers along the way, of course. He opens against the German Yannick Hanfmann but could play his fellow Italian and 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in round two. But with doubts about his hip seemingly behind him, he looks the player to beat.

“Last year I played semis here so in my mind I know that I can play also some good tennis on this surface,” Sinner said here on Saturday. “I’m just trying to get used to it, building my confidence here on this court. That’s it. Thinking about seeding or all the rest, it doesn’t make any sense. Everyone wants to win and show their best here. I’m just looking forward to it, to compete, and hopefully I can also show some good tennis.

“I’m just taking nothing as granted. Feeling honoured to go on court and just having fun. I think that’s the most important [thing].” Honoured, humble and in red-hot form.