"Sinner has actually become more accurate while hitting bigger than ever. That’s very rare" - Jannik Sinner's scintillating serving at Miami Open perplexes Courier and Eubanks

Jannik Sinner's serving over the last month has really caught the eye of many. It truly came in clutch to solidify the Sunshine double, winning the Miami Open title 6-4, 6-4 against Jiri Lehecka. It was a truly marvellous performance enjoyed by Tennis Channel analysts Jim Courier and Christopher Eubanks, who discussed why the four-time Grand Slam champion's serving was at such a high level before moving on to the rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz.

Sinner produced 10 aces and won 92% of his first serve points in the final. There was only one game where Lehecka had a chance of breaking, and the door was swiftly slammed in his face. Along with the serving, Sinner backed it up with an overall composed and complete performance to take home a second title in Florida.

Courier marvelled at Sinner's ability not just to extract a huge amount of power from his serve, but also how he was able to accurately direct it wherever he wished. "He’s not losing any miles per hour, and the accuracy is something we’ve talked about a lot during this tournament—and will continue to, because it’s so impressive," he stated.

In true champion fashion, after losing his crown at the US Open, the Italian has gone away and put a lot of work into his serve to perfect it. "He’s really ripping his serves," Courier continued. "After the US Open, where he had a poor serving day, his team clearly made adjustments. They looked at it and said, 'This isn’t right.'"

A graphic was cropped up onto the screen showing how good Sinner's serving was. Regularly, he would risk going nearer to the lines to make it as hard as possible for his opponent to return. In this case, Lehecka could not do too much. 77% of first serves in the left box, and 79% in the right box, were bordering the white service box lines, with a smaller percentage of safer serves in the middle.

"At that point, his first-serve percentage was around 60% for the season. Since then, it’s been closer to 68%," Courier analysed. "What’s remarkable is that both the accuracy and the speed have remained the same. Normally, when you increase your percentage like that, you take something off the serve or play it safer. But his first-serve placement is anything but safe—he’s going for the lines constantly."

Eubanks was quick to agree with his colleague. "Jim hit the nail on the head," Eubanks said. "Usually, when players try to increase their first-serve percentage, they dial it back a bit—maybe use more kick serves, go more to the body, or take some pace off. But Sinner has actually become more accurate while hitting bigger than ever, and his percentage is going up. That’s very rare."

It was truly ominous for the tour that Sinner is improving in this aspect. Eubanks also added that if the serve is returned to the other side of the court, that is just half of the problem. "Even when you do manage to return his serve—when you guess right and get something back that’s landing near the line—he’s got weapons everywhere. He’s got a forehand from both sides, he’s using the drop shot, coming to the net—he’s doing everything well. It’s great to see a player with this much success still finding ways to improve. That’s what should be scary for the rest of the field."

The top two players have yet to meet each other in an ATP contest this year, but the momentum has still been ebbing and flowing from one player to another. First, Alcaraz came out of the blocks like a rocket, winning the Australian Open and Qatar Open before reaching the semi-finals of Indian Wells. While he has lost two from his last three matches, Sinner has improved from a slow start. A semi-final and quarter-final run in those respective competitions, Alcaraz won, which got a lot of people concerned over his form. He dismissed this by winning the Sunshine double without even dropping a set, a remarkable achievement that only confirms his ability and dominance even more.

Making the transfer from hard to clay is normally a tricky one. A whole host of big tournaments are set to be played out, with Sinner eyeing up the chance to re-take the number one spot from his rival. They will continue to go toe-to-toe as they have done for the past couple of years, improving all the while as they push each other to new heights.

Eubanks weighed in on their ongoing rivalry. "That’s what makes it exciting—and a bit scary for Carlos Alcaraz too. Their rivalry has been going back and forth," he commented. "What’s interesting is that they have the same number of career titles, and I believe they’ve also won the same number of points against each other. The comparisons between them are incredible."

They have already adjusted so much in a short space of time to get the extra step on each other. It is yet to be seen whether this can continue. "Over the next few years, it’ll be fascinating to watch how they keep adjusting to each other. Sinner is improving his serve, and Alcaraz is making adjustments as well. They’re constantly tweaking their games to get better, and that’s only going to elevate the sport."

The discussion culminated in a hugely scary message for the rest of the tour: "In 19 straight tournaments where both of them have been in the draw, one or the other has won the title."