What was the reason for Jannik Sinner beating Carlos Alcaraz relatively comfortably in the Wimbledon final? The legendary Jimmy Connors believes it was because of Sinner’s return of serves.
“It’s interesting for me because everybody has put so much emphasis on the serve. This guy [Sinner] has a 140mph serve, and look at that, it’s so hard. That’s the biggest of all time,” said the former champion player in his podcast ‘Advantage Connors’.
“But what wins you matches? That is what Sinner did yesterday. Returns. He returned the ball with authority and with purpose. Not just to get the ball in play and start the point off, as they stay in neutral. But he was looking to take advantage and to be aggressive. That is what you have to do in matches like that in the finals of Wimbledon or the US Ope or Australia, if you are going to beat the best,” he said.
The website Tennisabstract confirmed Connors’s observations. Sinner won 36% of his return points from the 121 serves he faced. He won a total of 44 points on returns. He was especially brutal on Alcaraz’s second serve, winning 21 out of 50 second serves he faced. In comparison, Alcaraz won 31% of return points.
Connors said that Sinner and his team have figured out what to do to win. “He has figured it out, or whoever is with him has figured it out, that you are holding very comfortably, so let’s put some pressure on the return or make them work hard,” said Connors. That pays dividends down the line. Maybe not right then, but at one set all and four all in the third, maybe so. It seems like he figured that out because he was very aggressive and not afraid to step in and take advantage of that second serve.”
Connors also questioned the size of entourage of Alcaraz and modern-day tennis stars.
“I saw before they walked out on court, I think it was Alcaraz. He was getting ready to walk out on court and he must have hugged seven or eight guys,” he said in the podcast co-hosted by his son Brett.
“Your mum told me ‘get out there and play and let’s go home.’But they were hugging seven or eight guys in their camp. You have this guy and that guy, who is going to do this and that. To the point where I would have looked at that as a distraction. They look at that now differently. They look at that now that everybody is there for a reason and they have a purpose.”
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