Jannik Sinner continued to impress on his serve at the Monte Carlo Masters this year.
Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz in the Monte Carlo Masters final, which enabled him to return to world number one.
During the first set of this final, Alcaraz was heard saying Sinner’s serve was the difference between the two players.
Sinner has been working on improving his serve since the US Open last year, and he has now been compared to Roger Federer because of it.
Brad Gilbert compares Jannik Sinner’s serve to Roger Federer
When discussing the Monte Carlo Masters final on The Big T podcast, Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, revealed that he had actually spoken to Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill prior to the match, where they discussed the turning point after a relatively poor start to the season.
Gilbert then praised Sinner’s serve, with the Italian only dropping serve seven times in his 17-match winning streak that has seen him win Indian Wells, the Miami Open and now the Monte Carlo Masters.
“I tell you what it was a fascinating match and I had a nice catch with killer Cahill this morning,” said Gilbert. “He pointed to something that really changed things for Jannik Sinner.
“It was the loss to [Jakub] Mensik in Doha and instead of going back to Monte Carlo where the weather was terrible, as it was once again during this tournament, he came straight to Indian Wells.
“Killer drove from Vegas to Indian Wells and they had a 12 day camp, and he said during that camp it was hard work and he put in the hard yards, weather was hot and they really worked on his serve. The serve during this 17-match win streak, he has only dropped serve seven times and dropped one set.”
Will Jannik Sinner win more Grand Slams than Carlos Alcaraz in 2026?
Which Grand Slams will Jannik Sinner win this year?
Federer’s former coach, Paul Annacone, also praised Sinner’s serve, which he claimed used to be ‘really attackable’.
“That’s the thing that has been impressing me so much, the way that he’s been so meticulous about continuing to try and get better,” said Annacone. “And BG [Brad Gilbert], you know hard it is sometimes with players, they get so stuck in their mind about what used to work for them and what they’re really good at, and they forget that maybe I need to do something I’m a little uncomfortable with.
“Five years ago, Sinner’s serve, especially his second serve, was really attackable. He lost his serve only twice coming into the final today!
“Lost his serve early in both sets, but he’s become such a great…I would call him a strategic server, he’s a serve game player, he’s not just hitting bombs. Isn’t it amazing to you how he sets up his groundies behind his serve and how well he puts equation around the serve that is.”
Gilbert then responded by comparing Sinner’s serve to Federer, “Another guy that you worked with, Mr. Federer, I would say Sinner is very much like him. He’s a dime server. You drop a dime, those guys are hitting it.
“They set up their serve by the serve plus one and how they manage their service game. They don’t drop 30 aces like serve bots, but they hold serve every bit as good if not better.
“I think the thing I admire most about Sinner and Alcaraz now, it’s not that they’re working on their game just to be better than everybody else.
“At 22 and 24, they’re constantly working on their game and you know, that’s why they have such a massive lead over everybody else, because they’re constantly tinkering their game to get better. That’s what you should be doing as a player, not just thinking about getting better than one player.”
How long will Jannik Sinner stay as world number one?
Sinner will begin his third reign after winning the Monte Carlo Masters…
How do Jannik Sinner and Roger Federer’s serves compare so far?
Despite still being only 24 years old, Sinner’s serving statistics are actually very comparable to those from Federer’s entire career.
Federer leads Sinner in all of these statistics, but there is very little margin between them, particularly in terms of average double faults per match.
| Jannik Sinner | Roger Federer | |
| First Serve % | 60.5% | 62.1% |
| First Serve Win % | 75.7% | 77.3% |
| Second Serve Win % | 55.5% | 56.8% |
| Service Games Win % | 86.5% | 88.8% |
| Average Aces per match | 6.1 | 7.8 |
| Average Double Faults per match | 2.0 | 1.9 |
The fastest serve of Federer’s career came at the Halle Open in 2010, when he hit a 230.0 km/h (142.9 mph) serve in the final against Lleyton Hewitt.
While Sinner’s fastest serve is unknown, he has been recorded to hit higher speeds around the 210 km/h mark.
Sinner will look to continue improving his serve ahead of his next tournament, which is scheduled to be the Madrid Open, but he has already suggested that he may withdraw from the event in the Spanish capital and return to competition at the Italian Open instead.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
