Insights
Best in Class: Sinner tops forehand AND backhand shot quality lists
Sinner leads four key Tennis Data Innovations ‘Insights’
September 11, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner tops the Tennis Data Innovations forehand shot index leaderboard.
By Grant Thompson
The sound is thunderous, yet crisp and precise. Ballstriking that features a skillful blend of finesse and ferocity — each shot impeccably clean, but carrying a lethal force that overwhelms opponents.
Regardless of wing, Jannik Sinner is dominating the ATP Tour this season from the back of the court. The longer the rallies, the harder he pummels the ball, without dropping in consistency.
The Italian’s groundstrokes, intimidating as they are technically flawless, have placed him in a rare position of holding first place in both forehand shot quality (8.8) and backhand shot quality (8.48), according to Tennis Data Innovations, in partnership with TennisViz. It makes sense why Sinner is the runaway leader in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, tallying 9,000 ranking points, 2,885 more than second-placed Alexander Zverev.
The Champ @usopen 🎾👑@janniksin is dominating the Race to Turin leaderboard with an impressive 9⃣0⃣0⃣0⃣points🔥
Take a look at his standout #Insights numbers for the 2024 season so far👇#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/S0R5xGHhIB
— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) September 9, 2024
The World No. 1, who also leads in return quality (8.04), is crushing his forehand at an average speed of 78 mph this season, five mph faster than the Tour average. It is a similar story with his two-handed backhand, which the 23-year-old hits on average at 73 mph, compared to the Tour-average 66 mph.
Sinner makes it even trickier by piercing both groundstrokes with a flatter trajectory. Compared to the rest of the field, Sinner’s forehand registers two centimetres lower over the net and his backhand five centimetres lower.
Given his baseline dominance, it’s little wonder that Sinner tops the leaderboard in another key category: Conversion. When in an attacking position in the point, the two-time major champion wins a tour-leading 73 per cent of points.
But Sinner, who also leads the Return shot quality index, is also one of the best performers when caught playing defence. When the US Open champion is pushed deep beyond the baseline, perhaps forced to hit an open-stance backhand, Sinner is still very much in the point. In fact, he may be favoured to claw his way back in the forecourt and strike a winner. Sinner is 10th in the Steal metric, winning 37.5 per cent of points during which he found himself playing defence at some stage in the point.
Sinner’s coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi have seen their charge’s transition game improve firsthand, and Insights from Tennis Data Innovations are evidence of the team’s hard work.
“I think that Simone has done an amazing job over the past couple of years, working on errors of [Jannik’s] game, both transition from defence… and to get some power on those in the corners,” Cahill told ESPN after Sinner won in Flushing Meadows.
“But also getting back and taking the point over and transitioning into offence as well. Simone has been an amazing coach. He’s done a great job the past two and a half, three years. And it’s been an absolute honour to work with him and see how he’s been able to evolve Jannik’s game.”
Jannik Sinner in 2024:
Forehand Speed = 78 mph (Tour Avg. = 73 mph)
Backhand Speed = 73 mph (Tour Avg. = 66 mph)
Forehand Spin = 3,049 rpm (Tour Avg. = 2,708 rpm)
Backhand Spin = 2,235 rpm (Tour Avg. = 1,977 rpm)
