Jannik Sinner will play his first Grand Slam final on Sunday and will look to join the realms of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the annuls of Australian Open folklore. But at the very least, his ball striking according to his coach Darren Cahill is in the same vein as those big names.
Cahill who will aim to anchor Sinner to his maiden Grand Slam alongside Simone Vagnozzi spoke to Eurosport and was full of praise for his charge and said his ball striking isn't that of a normal player.
"The sound of the ball when he hits it, it's pretty amazing, isn't it? That was the one thing that I noticed, because I have seen him play from a distance a long time, for years now.
"The sound of the ball when he hits it is unique and special. He gets that from his timing and his hand speed. He's worked hard to be able to do that.
"One of the toughest things we have as coaches is to stop him from practicing. He will play non-stop on the court. We have to try to balance what we're trying to do, are we doing it for long enough, and then getting him off the court.
"Because if we don't get him off the court, he will stay out there four or five hours and keep doing the same thing over and over. That's one of the juggling acts we have as his coaches.
"[Andre] Agassi hits the ball like that. When he hits the ball, it just sounds like it's hit harder than everybody else. A lot of the great champions.
"Rafa was the exactly the same. Roger, when he hit a forehand, you could just hear the sound of it. And Novak, when he hits a forehand and backhand, it's like a thud.
"It's not just a normal person striking the ball. All those players have a different sound when they hit the ball and Jannik certainly has that, as well."
Quite an extraordinary coincidence😳 July 16 2023: Carlos Alcaraz ends Djokovic's winning streak at Wimbledon after 2195 days January 26 2024: Jannik Sinner ends Djokovic's winning streak at the Australian Open after 2195 days So it's decided then; Djokovic retires in 2195🥲
