By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, August 13, 2023
Jannik Sinner's greatest strength sprang from weakness.
Ballistic ball-striking powered Sinner past Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 to capture his maiden Masters 1000 championship in Toronto and propelled the Italian to a new career-high ranking of No. 6.
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Afterward, de Minaur, who was contesting his second final in as many weeks, praised Sinner as one of the most powerful groundstrokers he's ever faced.
"Jannik is a hell of a player. He's got some of the hardest ground strokes I've probably ever dealt, to be honest," de Minaur told the media in Toronto. "All these things I knew coming in. I knew what to expect.
"I think, ultimately, he kind of executed his game plan a little bit better than I was able to do mine."
So what's the secret to Sinner's punishing power?
Sinner, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Wednesday, said his explosiveness emanates from his free-flowing technique and lack of strength as a kid.
In retrospect, Sinner says it's a blessing he wasn't physically strong when he began playing because it forced him to focus on technique to generate pace.
"I think I always had a quite fluid ground stroke," Sinner said. "I was fortunate when I was young that I was not strong physically, so somehow I had to find a way to have a good ground stroke speed. So that's why I worked a lot technically.
"Now I'm getting also stronger physically. You know, I'm growing. And I guess the combination of being fluid and flexible but also getting stronger makes you hit the ball a little bit harder, no?"
Learning to channel his power based on conditions and his opponent's game style is one reason for Sinner's massive Masters breakthrough.
"Obviously, sometimes you have also to adjust and understand how much power you want to use, no?" Sinner said. "If you are against the wind, obviously, you have to use a little bit more. And if you're with the wind, you take also his ball a little bit and trying to maneuver it.
"But I think the combination of strength but also fluidity is very important."
As a pro, Sinner is striving to scale a major mountain and win his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open.
As a kid, Sinner was committed to going downhill fast as a champion junior skiier.
Ultimately, Sinner chose tennis over skiing because it provided opportunity to do damage on court rather than to his body.
"The only skill I would say is [similar is] maybe the sliding and the balance on court. Maybe that's the only thing," Sinner said of skiing and tennis. "But, like, generally talking, it's a completely different sport.
"One of the reasons why I chose tennis is because in tennis you don't have to be really afraid of... you know, of nothing, because nothing can really happen. In ski, you know, when you fall down, you never know if you break something or not.
"So that's one of the reasons, if not the reason, why I chose to play tennis, no? And even if you miss one ball, but you have lots of opportunities somehow to win the match, which is another scenario where I prefer tennis. And, you know, in a ski race, you make one mistake, you cannot win, no?"
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