"His preparation is so quick": Andy Roddick admits underestimating Jannik Sinner's ball-hitting ability

Former world number one Andy Roddick has highlighted that he underestimated the ball-striking ability of Italy’s Jannik Sinner. The 23-year-old is regarded as the best player currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category and recently defended his Australian Open title after beating Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

It was Sinner’s third major title on the hard court. He lifted the Australian Open in 2024 after beating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6. He then won the US Open last year as well after beating America’s Taylor Fritz in the final with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. In between that, he also won the ATP Finals on his home soil, where he got the better of Fritz as well in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4.

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Former world number one Roddick has been recently quoted in a report by The Tennis Gazette, in which he admitted that he underestimated Sinner's ball-striking ability. Roddick was of the opinion that the former world number one Andre Agassi was the best ball striker he had ever seen, but Sinner is not far behind.

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“His margin is still safe,” said the one-time Grand Slam winner. “Andre [Agassi] is the best ball striker I have ever seen in my life and when he red lined it, he still hit a flat ball, especially on the forehand, maybe not so much on the backhand where he would create so much margin but Sinner’s ball has that C, even when he’s hitting it massive. It means he is hitting it safe. And it’s not like a Rafa thing where he hits masses of topspin and it bounces and floats over and it’s really heavy. This is hard through the court consistently but it seems like he has margin. I would have been wrong because I would have told you five years ago that he has that kind of laid back rubber band where he slings it back real quick and then slings it through. I would have told you that is going to be hard to time up under pressure over and over again. And I would have been completely wrong because his preparation is so quick, even with that lag on the forehand where you create that margin. Guys in the past you would see those extreme layoffs, you would think if I hit with enough pace I can get at that and maybe they are hitting some foul balls. He’s not like that.”

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