Match Reaction

Vagnozzi on Sinner: 'He's an unbelievable talent'

Jannk Sinner hit new heights on Sunday evening, when he successfully defended his crown at the Australian Open.

With an assured straight-sets victory over World No. 2 Alexander Zverev, Sinner continues to assert his dominance atop the PIF ATP Rankings. The three-time major winner has now won 37 of his past 38 matches, and his coach Simone Vagnozzi has the feeling that this is just the beginning of a lengthy period of success.

“He's still young, he has already won three [Grand Slam] tournaments,” Vagnozzi said of Sinner in a media conference on Sunday. “You never know what's going to happen in the future, but for sure he is a guy that tries to improve every day, goes on court, in practice, and tries to put new things on his game, tries to improve physically.

“I think he's one of the guys that can reach the top level. When we speak about the top level, we think about Novak [Djokovic], about Roger [Federer] or Rafa [Nadal]. We are still a long way, but for sure is one of the guys that can try to reach this kind of player.”

The happiness in this photo 🥰#AO2025 pic.twitter.com/SdWQLx62J5

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 26, 2025

The remarkable potential that Vagnozzi sees in Sinner is perhaps one of the key factors behind their success together. Vagnozzi began working with Sinner in 2022, when the Italian was 20, and has witnessed firsthand his player's journey to becoming the first Italian to reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Yet there lies a notable difference between the man that rallied past Daniil Medvedev from two-sets-to-love down in last year’s final in Melbourne and the man who dispatched the World No. 2 in two hours, 42 minutes without facing a single break point.

“For sure, it’s different,” Vagnozzi said when asked about Sinner’s approach to the two finals 12 months apart. “For sure you see [him] with a little more confidence, with more calm. Also, you know that you already have two trophies at home, so it's a little bit different. [He] also knows better how to manage some moments of the match.

“I think he’s a completely different player. He has more confidence on his serve. He has more confidence in how he's playing tactically in the match. All these kinds of things make the difference to win this type of tournament.

“He’s an unbelievable talent, a really unbelievable talent. Mentally he is really, really strong. When he wants something, he tries to do as best he can. Sometimes when someone speaks about Jannik, they speak just about his groundstrokes or his power. But for me, as a coach, when you ask him something, he's able to do it quite fast.”

Sinner grew into his title defence in Melbourne as the tournament wore on, and in typically clinical fashion, he saved the best until last. The 23-year-old did not drop a set from the quarter-finals on, and was ruthless in the championship match, where he saw off Zverev for the second consecutive time to move to 3-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I think he played the best match so far in the tournament,” Vagnozzi said of the final. “I think after the semi-final someone asked me why he always plays the best tennis in difficult moments. For sure today was a really important moment, and he went on court and he played the best tennis. He likes to be in this position.”

Last year's Australian Open and US Open champion has now won 21 consecutive matches at the hard-court majors. Yet with fierce rival and World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz claiming victory on the clay at Roland Garros and on the grass at Wimbledon last year, Sinner will be eager to taste Grand Slam success on the other surfaces. Vagnozzi believes that Sinner’s time is not far away.

“For sure his natural surface is hard court,” Vagnozzi explained. “Last year he played in the semis in Paris and quarters in Wimbledon. The year before the semis [at Wimbledon]. For sure clay may be a little bit more difficult. But he can play good also there I think, and he can also try to win Roland Garros.

“I think Wimbledon last year he was a little bit unlucky because he was not 100 per cent the day that he lost to Medvedev, otherwise probably we had small chances also to win there in Wimbledon. I think we have a chance to be ready to try to win Paris and also Wimbledon. So we will see.”