Novak Djokovic shares advice he gave Jannik Sinner as he makes ‘mistake’ comment
Novak Djokovic has recalled sharing advice with Jannik Sinner after a match and amusingly admitted he may have “made a mistake” by helping his rival.
Sinner delivered a stellar performance to earn a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this month.
The Italian holds a 7-5 head-to-head record against Djokovic having won six of the pair’s last seven encounters after the Serbian won four of their first five matches.
The duo’s second meeting came in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, with Djokovic prevailing 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Darren Cahill, who joined Sinner‘s coaching team shortly before Wimbledon in 2022, revealed on Andy Roddick’s Served podcast last year that Djokovic candidly broke down the Italian’s game after that quarter-final match.
“I saw Novak, and he’s always great with this, he’s always been incredible when you tap him on the shoulder,” said Cahill. “And I said, ‘Hey listen, I’ve just started with Jannik, don’t tell me anything you don’t want to tell me, but can I ask what you were feeling out there?’ And he was incredible.
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“He basically said, ‘Hey listen. Good luck with working with him. Hits the ball great, but there’s no variation. So you know, there’s no shape on his shot. There’s no height over the net. Doesn’t come to the net. He’s not trying to bring me in, I know that he returns well, but he’s not attacking my serve on the return of serve.’
“So, he went through his whole game and broke it down. It wasn’t like it was revelations to what we didn’t know about Jannik and what we were trying to change in his game.
“But when you take that conversation and sit down with a young man like Jannik Sinner and say, ‘Hey, listen, I just spoke to Novak and this is what he thinks’, that leaves a big impression on a young player. So for Jannik, it’s: ‘Right, give it to me. Let’s start doing these changes’.”
Last week, Djokovic appeared at the Fanatics Fest in New York, and in an interview during the event, he referenced his conversation with Sinner’s coach at Wimbledon.
“I gave him all the spill of everything I noticed on the court: his weaknesses, his strengths, things he has to work on, and then, the next three years, he beats me at Wimbledon every freaking year! So, maybe I made a mistake, I don’t know (smiling),” said the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
