Solid Sinner
Jannick Sinner d. Ben Shelton, 7–6, 6–2, 6–2. Australian Open 2025 semifinal.
I confess I hadn’t watched the current world no. 1, Jannick Sinner, play till yesterday. I had a lull period ever since Rafael Nadal retired. They say, the game is bigger than any player, and I agree, but a player, specially a giant of the game like Nadal, does become the game itself for some people for some period of time. On an individual fan level, this lull is expected. Nadal, like his peers, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, was an all time legend, who left a deep impact on this game.
It makes sense. A physically and mentally demanding game like tennis cannot be conquered by mere mortals. Federer’s style of play was “effortlessly elegant” (even though he clearly negated “effortless” in his amazing commencement address to Dartmouth University). Nadal was known for his determination, relentlessness, resilience and enjoying the suffering. Djokovic is an unforgiving machine who makes his matches about “him vs the World.”
Just as I was starting to analyse the characteristics of Sinner in his semifinal against Ben Shelton, the exuberant American, I saw Shelton hit a 216 kmph second serve aimed right at his Sinner’s heart (for reference, 216 kmph is faster than most players’ first serve). Sinner barely defended against this bullet and looked like a fool while doing so. A few points later, Sinner attempted a drop shot. Shelton reached it comfortably, and played a ridiculous, deceptive drop shot flat-footing Sinner. He broke Sinner in the first set, worked up the crowd, and had a couple of set points. Sinner was under fire against a red-hot, zoned-in Ben Shelton with the entire crowd behind the American.
Sinner barely showed any emotions, but did not change the way he played. I recalled how Rohit Sharma was asked a question after India won the T20 World Cup last year, “What did you change between the loss in final in 2023, and today?” He replied, “Nothing. We believe in our process, and we are good enough that if we follow our process enough times, we will win.” The same applies for Sinner.
He broke Shelton back without doing anything different, and casually walked towards the changeover. He comfortably won the tie-breaker, 7–6, and showed a small fist-pump towards his camp. That was all the emotion I saw from him during the entire one hour. And as expected, after narrowly escaping against Shelton in the first set, it became too easy for Sinner. He comfortably won the next two sets 6–2, 6–2.
During the entire match, I struggled to find any aspect of Sinner’s game, his attitude or his personality that set him apart from the rest. He did not even have the aura that Federer, Nadal or Djokovic commanded at the court. Most of their opponents blatantly admitted that they used to lose the battle against them even before entering the court. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Sinner. Its not a stretch to think that even Carlos Alcaraz, the current world №3, commands more aura on court than him.
Sinner’s game is not flashy; it is high percentage, but it is solid. He hits hard and deep into the court, doesn’t aim for the lines, but stays close to it, and has barely any weaknesses. He did not miss a single overhead in the match, hit every single backhand-down-the-line that I can remember. At the same time, he rarely played a rally for the highlight reels, and let Shelton take up this burden.
Late in the third set, Sukriti, my tennis watching partner for the last decade and a half, observed how Shelton’s outfit was the same as Iga Swiatek’s outfit (both are sponsored by On Sports). I dryly observed, “Yes, it looks hideous on him. But look at Sinner’s outfit — it is so classy! I’d love to buy one.” Sukriti promptly replied, “Of course, you’d want to buy this outfit meant for 80 year old grandpas. A pale yellow polo, with white shorts, socks and shoes. What’s there to like? Shelton’s outfit is hideous, but at least it got us talking!”
Sinner ended the match with a routine service winner, flashed a half-smile towards his camp, gave a solid fist-shake to Shelton. As he packed his bags and walked towards the locker room without any fuss, I figured out what set Sinner apart from his peers — it is “Routine.” His all-round game is so well balanced that he doesn’t need to set himself apart. He simply needs to go out there on the court, do his routine job, and conquer the world.
