WATCH: Jannik Sinner seen practicing new serve technique ahead of return to action

Oli Dickson Jefford 22 Sep 2025 6:45 PM

Pictured: Jannik Sinner at the China Open.

Jannik Sinner in practice at the China Open.

Jannik Sinner vowed to make improvements on his serve after his US Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz earlier this month — and it appears that the world No 2 is already fulfilling his wish.

The Italian’s defeat to Alcaraz inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium was his seventh loss to the Spaniard in the last eight matches contested between the two, with world No 1 Alcaraz reversing a 3-4 deficit in their head-to-head to now lead their rivalry 10-5.

Having won four of the past eight Grand Slam tournaments, with a staggering 100-11 win-loss record since the start of 2024, Sinner’s status as one of the ATP Tour’s dominant forces is more than secure, with only five men beating him across the past two seasons.

However, Alcaraz is responsible for seven of those 11 losses since the beginning of last year, and Sinner’s only win over the Spaniard — who replaced him as the world No 1 after the US Open — came in the Wimbledon final in July.

Sinner is comfortably clear of any player outside of Alcaraz as things stand, though, speaking after his final defeat at Flushing Meadows, pinpointed where he must improve.

“I can say that I’m gonna become a better tennis player and I’m gonna change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but, they can make big differences and then we see how it goes,” said Sinner.

The 24-year-old’s serve has already been improved and reworked significantly over the past two years under the guidance of coaches Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill.

However, surprise statistics show that he is ranked only 54th on the ATP when it comes to the highest first serve percentage, suggesting there is significant room for improvement.

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And, it would appear that work on his serve is already underway, with footage of Sinner and lead coach Vagnozzi working on the Italian’s service motion emerging ahead of his China Open campaign.

Practising on the tournament’s Centre Court, the footage seems to suggest that Vagnozzi and Sinner are working on a shortened takeback on his service motion, with Vagnozzi holding a racket out to prevent the world No 2’s right arm from moving too far backwards.

All eyes will now be on how Sinner’s serve looks when his campaign gets underway at the ATP 500 event later this week, with the four-time Grand Slam champion set to be the top seed at the tournament.

Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev to lift the title in 2023, though he was beaten by Alcaraz in the 2024 final, falling in a thrilling three-set battle to his main rival.

Alcaraz has instead opted to compete at the Japan Open in Tokyo this week, potentially giving Sinner the chance to work on his serve away from his rival’s presence, before they both compete at the Shanghai Masters.