What Do Tennis Legends Really Think Of Jannik Sinner?

look at the different players he's beating that badly and also on different surfaces lately everyone has had something to say about yanic sinner we've seen unfiltered opinions and the behind the-scenes Buzz about Sinner's form on Clay his game and everything in between from the end of last year right up until this moment Sinner's narrative has been extremely compelling some think he's the best from the New Gen even better than alcaraz While others still think he needs to find Improvement in a few areas and don't even get me started on what Rafa say about the Italian this is what tennis Legends think about Yanik sner cner pulled out of Madrid and withdrew from Rome due to a nagging right hip injury and it had me wondering just if some opinions had changed about him at the start of the clay season Novak gave a detailed response when he was asked about Sinner and Monte Carlo he basically said that cner was the best player in the world and didn't hold back from showering Praise on the Italian I mean he's been uh playing some amazing tennis and he's been the best player in the world this year so far no doubt uh he's been you know yeah probably playing the tennis of his life I mean one he lost only one match ER in the entire year won three or four tournaments uh so just the level has been incredible to to to witness to watch and uh you know he's a great guy is really devoted uh he's got a really good team of people around him and he doesn't come as a surprise really because I know how much work he puts in day in Day Out and you know he was always uh very talented in playing uh powerful tennis but I think now he does it with more margin he doesn't make as many mistakes cner did make it to the semis in Monte Carlo but many fans argue that he could have made the final and won the title there if not for that costly umpire call fast forward to Madrid where many of us including myself had sinner as one of our favorites for the title but I guess we might need to wait a little longer seeing that he's been struggling a bit with his health cner gave us an update on the injury situation on his Instagram and we hope that it's nothing too serious with Roland garos around the corner already Sinner's Fitness team is probably sweating to make sure he recovers as quickly as possible but just before his latest injury we saw some crazy takes on CER and I bet you already know who's right at the top of the list ahead of the clay Court swing former world number one Andy rodic compared Sinner's dominance on the hard courts to Prime Rafa on Clay on his served with Ric podcast I personally found that take quite interesting when I first heard it CER to Prime Rafa on Clay that's crazy but as rodic went on to explain it was easy to see where he was coming from in terms of some of the statistical comps here's what he said to draw a comp to what cner just did in Miami you have to go to Prime Nadal on clay in a Masters 1000 that is what you're comparing this dominance to CER this weekend in Miami to Rafa's best ever finish as far as games lost uh in a master's 1000 CER in Miami Rafa Prime on Clay that's that's the comp it's pretty obvious to any casual fan at this point that cner is not as dominant on Clay as he's been on the hard courts results wise and historically speaking Clay is literally Sinner's worst surface apart from the title and umag which he won in 2022 sner actually hasn't won any other ATP title on the surface but to be honest even if sner doesn't win a big title on Clay this season I'm not going to be too bothered because it's literally just the physical issue stopping him nothing else meanwhile renowned tennis coach and commentator Paul anacon was surprised by how quickly sinner adapted to Clay before now everyone was like let's see how sinner will play on Clay blah blah blah but yanuk has proven the doubters and naysayers wrong yet again anacon pointed out Sinner's disposition as something that hasn't changed about him speaking about his experience with sinner anacon says that the Italian hasn't changed one bit since he met him 4 years ago also commenting on his emotional stability here's the gist of what he said is that look at the differ players he's beating that badly and also on different surfaces and this should be a transition week right this should be a week for CER to start to get used to the clay that took all of about three and a half seconds for him to get used to the clay and when you see somebody that's that comfortable um I I I think look out everybody else the thing that's most to me most promising about this young man is his disposition is it hasn't changed um I met him for the first time four years ago at Indian Wells humble nice kid soft spoken just goes about his business ticks all the professionalism boxes and the the the gap between the valleys and the Peaks aren't isn't that much emotionally so to me when you're like that it's much easier to sustain a very high level because you take there a grage salt sure you appreciate it but he knows he didn't just cure cancer he just knows he's playing good tennis so I think that disposition helps him a lot for those of you who don't know Paul anacon he's a highly respected figure in the tennis Community as a player he reached the Wimbledon quarterfinal in 1984 and was world number 12 in his prime he also won the Australian Open doubles title with chisto Van rensburg in 1985 since his retirement anacon has coached big names like Pete Sampras Roger Federer Tim Henman vinka Sloan Stevens and Taylor Fritz but back to the point being emotionally stable has helped CER to maintain a very high level during games we saw how that played out in the Australian Open final earlier this year personally I can count the number of times I've seen being emotional on one hand even when he's nervous angry or frustrated sinner always has a calm demeanor how does he do it is this a learned behavior or is it just his personality let me digress a bit and talk a little bit about Andre rublev who has me absolutely eating my words from last week rublev has been cool calm and collected under pressure and it's coincided with him playing some great tennis in Madrid personally I couldn't be happier for him point being made siner is a reference point for the new genen when it comes to the mental and emotional aspects of the game but let's switch gears a little bit and talk about this next take from yet another renowned tennis Legend Czech born American Martina navat toova spent 332 weeks on top of the women's ranking and won 18 grand slams in singles we know Martina for her Fierce nature on and off the court so when I saw her comments about yanuk a few weeks ago I had to tune in have a listen to what she said right here and yes he's been the most consistent and his average day is better than everybody else's average at the moment he's taken it to a whole new level so it gives him a lot of peace of mind because he knows he doesn't have to play out of his socks he doesn't have to Red Line anything to win matches the other guys are the ones that have to Red Line so that gives you a lot of confidence I agree with Martina that CER has been the most consistent player this year I think it's pretty obvious and yes his average level is better than almost every other tennis player but if we're about to talk about the peak level between CER and alcaraz I think it's going to be a tough call depending on the surface and that's why it's so disappointing to see that we didn't get a center alcarez match in Madrid it would have been a blockbuster for sure these two have been battling it out a lot over the last two or three seasons they've gotten to see each other's game up close and personal and they're now at an even four all in their rivalry alcaraz was the man who ended Sinner's unbeaten start to the year at Indian Wells caritos knew that he needed to pull off something extraordinary to get the job done in the desert alcarez believes that the only way to beat this current version of yanic siner is to be at 100% yourself self well every time that I'm going to face JN I'm going to get nervous that's uh that's for sure because I know that they have to play I'm 100% if I if I want to to beat him but Chris evert's ex-husband and former world number 21 John Lloyd doesn't think that alcaraz at 100% Can best center at 100% speaking on the tennis channel inside in podcast Lloyd explained that he thinks Center cealing is actually higher than alcaraz's but then he also admitted that both players were Untouchable he said quote these two guys I tell you the other guys are going to have to really step up because they're going to run away with it we always say he's on the big come up but I tell you when those two are playing at their best no one can get close I don't think end quote still on Center in alcaraz a certain tennis Legend doesn't believe much has changed in tennis even with these two sharing three grand slams and several Masters 1000 titles between them Rafa's statement at the Madrid Open Press Conference showed that he was firmly behind his arch rival Novak jokovic when asked about this current generation of tennis players Rafa admitted that CER and alcaras have been brilliant but remained firm in his opinion that tennis hasn't moved to the Next Generation just yet in Rafa's words quote of course they are amazing players but at the same time if we put in perspective that Novak jokovic won three of four grand slams and played in the final of another one I mean he's from my generation so of course they're doing amazing things but on the other hand a player from my generation and similar I mean of course little bit better numbers but but similar level at the level that we played for a long time still having a lot of success that says that tennis has amazing new Champions but at the same time things haven't changed that much end quote in the grand scheme of things I agree with Rafa that nothing much has changed CER is box office money no doubt but at the same time even during the big three's run of dominance we still saw very talented players giving them a run for their money it goes without saying that we'll need to see this level of dominance from cner and alcarez consistently over the next few years before we can really start considering them as the goats of the next gen at the same time we now know that Novak jokovic is now guaranteed to celebrate his 37th birthday as world number one because it's now mathematically impossible for the Joker to lose his number one status before May 27th that's 426 weeks as world number one somebody pinched me I think he might get to 450 meanwhile even if CER overtakes jokovic on the 27th Novak will still be the top seat at Rolland garos crazy to think that Novak continues to to balance his schedule and Skip tournaments and still these guys haven't been able to overtake him just yet I should also point out that the ELO system has CER at the number five spot at the moment look at the guys who are ahead of him yes I know the ELO ratings might be subject to recency bias but I'm curious to know how you guys would rate Center ahead of the French Open do you see him reaching the semis the final or even lifting the trophy personally I still have Novak as my Darkhorse favorite because he's well rested and he always manages to bring out his best tennis during sling Lambs meanwhile both yanic Sinner and Carlos alcarez are dealing with injuries that being said I wouldn't be too surprised to see something crazy happen because I was definitely taught some prediction lessons from Madrid I mean nobody saw that semi-final lineup coming Never Say Never in tennis right that said we also need to talk about what coaching yanic sinner feels like former Australian tennis player and yanic Sinner's current coach Darren kahill has let the world know what he really thinks about CER on a number of occasions kahill says that there's no difference between the person sinner is on and off the court he also shared his thoughts on Sinner's hunger and drive to be the best player in the world saying that although we call him the fox cner is just as deadly as a tiger but according to kahill there's still a lot of room for improvement in Sinner's game quote we've been working on improving his serve improving his transition game his sliced backand to use it as a change up shot Direction on his forehand and return of service but credit where it's du he's playing terrific tennis at the moment end quote says k Hill the Aussie also mentioned that Sinner's generation is privileged to have seen the previous generations push for improvements even in their mid to late 30s here's a snippet of what he said an athlete and a person I would say are pretty similar there's not too much difference between the player that you see on court and the player and the person that he is off the court and I think that says a lot to who he is that there's no fake agenda with the way he is he's passionate he has fun he's not afraid to a smile he's a bit of a jokester he's got a hunger about him and he's got a you can see it in his eyes it's uh I know he's called the fox but he's got a little tiger in his stomach and he wants it badly kahill also worked with former world number one and eight-time Grand Slam Champion Andre agasse he mentioned that it was all business with Agy because the American wanted to become a better tennis player in his 30s and now just by watching Center play agasse has admitted that he has a soft spot for Sinner's excellent ball striking I mean who wouldn't list and I always have a soft spot for just a great ball Striker you know it's just there's something about it that just makes me go oh I me it was the only piece I had on the tennis court is when I hit a ball dead perfect I mean literally and so you know I watch somebody like like Center hit the ball yeah and I just go that's got to feel good you know the sound takes you back yeah the sound and and uh yeah so that but I I also like the the IQ of it and then we have former world number one and six-time Grand Slam Champion Boris Becker who still feels like he's watching a younger version of himself when he sees CER play speaking live from Madrid during a press conference on the 25th edition of the lorious World Sports Awards Becker said quote I love sinner in him I see my younger self I love his mental attitude whether he loses or wins comparing sinner with alcaraz Becker said quote he could not be more different from alcaraz in how they play but both have an incredible instinct to fight to the last and to engage the audience I think alcaraz is more spectacular is a great hitter perhaps is more more charming and manages to reach the audience more but yanuk usually wins the last point with his attitude and his way of being on the court he has much more power than last year it's incredible and he knows how to play to the end and has an innate sense of competition end quote well said Boris I mean these guys are so good it's not even fair don't believe me ask Roger Federer Federer never got to face siner before retiring almost 2 years ago but the Swiss believes that it would have been unfair if he faced yanic in a professional match at the time he said quote well right now it would not be fair he would be the big Champion me I would be chasing the balls end quote Federer has been happy to cheer nextg players from the sideline without putting them under too much pressure and I think that's the best way to go about things so we don't end up holding players to Impossible standards meanwhile let's have a listen to what some of Sinner's colleagues had to say about his game after sinner won the Australian Open Nick curios jokingly said that he wanted sner to be his coach so that he could also win a grand slam how much can I pay you to be my coach so I can win a grand slam you almost had me there Nick but honestly one of the things that stands out for me is the tremendous amount of respect the current players have for sinner unlike other players who divide opinions cner seems to be in everyone's good book not just Nick here's what Alex D Manor had to say about Yanik sner after sinner beat him in the Canadian Open final last year I'd like to start off by by saying a huge congratulations to Yanik um to you you and to your whole team you you deserve it you the way you carry yourself on the court and off the court I've got tremendous respect for you so it was a great battle we started as doubles Partners uh it didn't go so well in the doubles but uh we both made it to the final so uh congratulations to you and the team to be fair almost everyone saw Center's rise coming Noak jokovic you could see already back then that he's timing the ball so well so I'm really glad for him because a very nice guy Andy Murray he feels like he's playing better than 380 in the world I think you know he will keep moving up the rankings Alexander's ver he's an up and cominging Superstar I think he's going to be top 10 very shortly I think he's going to be competing for the biggest turns in the world and stand brinka he's a great player good mentality good guy and for sure he has a bright fer oh and I almost forgot to talk about the man who's now lost to Center five consecutive times he's he's playing well now uh he doesn't miss much and he can make winners no other player has had to deal with this version of CER more often than denal Medvedev and you've got to feel for the Russian because he's been getting smacked even when he isn't playing badly Medvedev had a lot to say about this year's Australian Open final and Miami final losses to Center as a hardcourt specialist himself it must have been tough for meddev to take those losses but now that the clay season has brought some form of reset meddev will be hoping to find solutions to his yanic CER puzzle ahead of their next meeting whenever that is but back to you guys what are your thoughts on the opinions of these tennis Legends do you agree or disagree well let me tell you something CER is now 28 and two this year his 16-0 unbeaten start to the year remains one of the best starts to a season on the ATP Tour in fact only the big three and Pete sess have managed to do better and while the buzz seems to have died down a little bit given the injuries best believe that we can expect a lot more from CER this year it all comes down to this in my opinion yanuk sner is by no means overhyped I also think that there are no real right or wrong answers when having these discussions and personally I'm just happy to talk about them and also hear what you guys think if you love this video be sure to hit that subscribe button and help us towards our goal of 100,000 subscribers by the end of the year and if you missed last week's videos no worries I have them showing on the screen for you right here