Jannik Sinner credits Daniil Medvedev with helping make him a better player

China Open champion Jannik Sinner believes that Daniil Medvedev has made him a better player across their previous battles.

Sinner had zero wins over Medvedev heading into their championship showdown in Beijing.

With both sets going to a tiebreak, Sinner’s pre-match prediction that the serve will be vital proved prophetic.

“The serve is important in every match you play,” Sinner said.

“Here the balls are quite slow. It depends, no?

“For sure I try to change a couple of things because I never won against him. It’s going to be a huge challenge for me, but I’m looking forward for it, no?

“I have another chance to play against him. I put myself in this position, which I’m proud of. Hopefully tomorrow I can show some good tennis.

“Obviously the serve is very important. Also how I play from the back of the court. There are going to be a lot of long rallies.

“We see how it goes. I’m happy and excited to play one more time against him.”

Sinner acknowledged the role Medvedev has played in sharpening up his skills, especially in clashes on the Russian’s favoured hard courts.

“Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match,” Sinner joked while claiming his trophy in Beijing.

“We have had some very tough battles, especially this year. Thanks for making me a much better player. I have been training a lot to beat you. My team are working a lot. Thank you very much and it is special to share this moment with you.”

Sinner is now locked in a tie as the highest-ranked Italian player of all time thanks to his rise to being No 4 in the world.

While he cherishes the milestone he says that he personally takes a lot more from his personal progress as a player.

“First of all, I think it’s a great achievement for sure. In the other way, I’m more proud about how I improved the level this year, mentally especially. I felt like or I feel that I’m much stronger.

“Also physically I know that I have to work a lot, so this is an aspect where we are going to push a lot in end of the year, especially for the next year then.

“But I felt like I was playing really consistent tennis throughout the whole year. When you do this, also a lot of points are coming in for the ranking and everything. I’m not watching so much about this.

“No 4 in the world, which is really good, but most importantly tomorrow I have a final to play which hopefully I can play some good tennis, be very focused. Hopefully it’s going to be a good day.”

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