LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

Jannik Sinner picks the player he thinks has the best serve of all time in tennis 

Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Follow us on Google Discover

Jannik Sinner has faced many big servers on the ATP Tour on his rise to become one of the best two players in the world.

Sinner is a four-time Grand Slam champion, and has won a total of 21 ATP titles in his young career already.

However, he was recently beaten in the US Open final by Carlos Alcaraz, where Sinner was told his serve was not good enough.

Now, just over a month after that final, Sinner has named the player who he believes has the best serve of all time.

John Isner of the United States serves in a final career match loss against Michael Mmoh of the United States during their Men's Singles Second Round match on Day Four of the 2023 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

Jannik Sinner builds his perfect player and names who he thinks has the best serve of all time

Sinner is currently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Six Kings Slam exhibition, where he won the title last year.

After he beat Alcaraz in the final, Sinner took home $6million, which is the biggest amount of prize money in tennis history.

As he looks to do it all over again, the Italian made a positive start to his title defence, with Sinner comfortably beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match.

Alongside his on-court activities, Sinner has also spoken to media at the Six Kings Slam including Wivo Productions, who asked him to build his perfect player.

Sinner named all of the big three in various different categories, as well as listing rival Alcaraz for his forehand and tennis IQ.

There was only one player who Sinner named that was not one of the big three or Alcaraz, and that was John Isner.

Sinner picked Isner as the serve he would choose for his best player, and later on named the American again when asked for the shot he would want for himself.

Isner, who is 6’10” (2.08m) in height, reached a career-high ranking of world number eight and hit a record 14,470 aces in his career before he retired in 2023.

Tennis shotPlayer Jannik Sinner chose
ServeJohn Isner
ForehandCarlos Alcaraz
BackhandNovak Djokovic
VolleyRoger Federer
MentalityRafael Nadal
IQ/Shot SelectionRoger Federer/Carlos Alcaraz
Speed/FootworkNovak Djokovic
Shot Sinner would wantJohn Isner’s Serve

What happened when Jannik Sinner faced John Isner’s serve?

Not only has Sinner seen the effectiveness of Isner’s serve on television, but he has also faced the American three times in his career.

All three of those meetings came on quicker surfaces, where the serve is more effective, but Sinner was able to beat Isner in two of those meetings.

Sinner’s return was particularly effective when they met at the Davis Cup Finals in 2021, as he won over half of the points against Isner’s serve and was able to break him five times.

TournamentSurfaceResultJannik Sinner’s Return Points Won %John Isner’s Aces
Cincinnati Open 2021Outdoor HardIsner beat Sinner, 5-7 7-6(4) 6-431%12
Davis Cup Finals 2021Indoor HardSinner beat Isner, 6-2 6-057%7
Wimbledon 2022GrassSinner beat Isner, 6-4 7-6(4) 6-335%24

After beating Tsitsipas at the Six Kings Slam, Sinner will now play another person on his list in 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

This will be the first time that they have played one another since Wimbledon, where Sinner comfortably beat Djokovic en route to winning the title.