Jannik Sinner backed to ‘take off’ as tennis great also offers word of caution ahead of 2024 season

Jannik Sinner has enjoyed an incredible 2023 campaign, but he has been urged to “take care of himself” if he is to put himself “on another level”.

The Italian is enjoying his best tennis season to date as he has cracked the 50-match wins during a calendar year for the first time with his 80.3% record (57-14) the third best behind Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The 22-year-old won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title when he lifted the Canadian Open trophy in August while he also finished runner-up at the Miami Open in March and reached the semi-final at Wimbledon.

His other titles in 2023 came at the Open Sud de France, the China Open and the Vienna Open while he also qualified outright for the ATP Finals for the first time in his career.

However, his brilliant end-of-season form and a scheduling nightmare did result in him withdrawing from his Paris Masters round of 16 clash against Alex de Minaur last week as he cited fatigue as the reason for pulling out of the tournament.

The ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals are the only two events left on Sinner’s calendar this year, but tennis great Jimmy Connors has urged the rising star not to burn himself out.

“This is where good coaching comes in. There comes a point of time when he’ll have to put the brakes on, take a little rest, take care of himself so when the Australian Open comes around, he’s not exhausted,” the American said on the Advantage Connors podcast.

“You can push yourself, but not so hard when Slams come around, you’re like, ‘I’m hurt, I’m tired,’ as those are the ones you really peak for.

“Even though he’s proven himself, beating all the top players, winning a Masters 1000 and now a couple of tournaments back-to-back.”

READ MORE: Jannik Sinner’s evolution under Darren Cahill – only Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev have more points

Sinner made a big coaching change last year as he teamed up with renowned coach Darren Cahill and it is certainly paying off as they have already won five titles together.

But Connors believes the Italian has “another level” to go up and once he gets that monkey off his back then he is expected to “take off”.

The former world No 1 added: “Winning a Grand Slam will put him on another level and once that happens it is ‘wow’, it will be fun to watch him take off also with a big win like that.

“Hopefully for him – and if he continues on the road that he is – that will happen soon.”