Andy Roddick likened Jannik Sinner’s supreme play towards the conclusion of his Miami Open championship run to Rafael Nadal’s peak on clay surfaces.
Sinner’s run was compared by the former world No. 1 to Rafael Nadal’s journey to victory in the 2010 Monte Carlo Masters, where he defeated fellow countrymen David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals and final.
Sinner won his third event of a fantastic 2024 season thus far, dropping just one set in the six matches he participated in during an emphatic march to the win in Miami.
The Italian was very strong in his last two victories, destroying Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match and Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals.
The 22-year-old has a 22-1 record this year and has only lost three matches since the 2023 US Open in September. This week, he rose to a career-high ranking of world No. 2.
On his podcast, “Served with Andy Roddick,” Roddick praised Sinner’s performances, likening them to those of the “King of Clay” during his prime.
I’m going to highlight for you how outstanding Jannik Sinner’s performance was. Thus, it is undeniable that Novak [Djokovic] is the greatest player of all time. “Numbers don’t lie,” the US Open champion from 2003 declared.
But Rafa on clay is the most powerful person when you get on a certain surface at a particular time. Yes, that’s as unquestionable as the GOAT discussion. That Rafa conversation on clay, in my opinion, may have been even greater. It’s even more so.
What are the statistical comparisons between Jannik Sinner’s one-two in the semi-finals and his three-one in the finals?
2010 Monte Carlo: Rafa Nadal defeats David Ferrer in the semifinals; I believe it was a one-and-two or one-and-three (6-2, 6-3) match. Fernando Verdasco is defeated in the zero-and-one (6-0, 6-1) match. Thus, in order to compare what Sinner just accomplished in Miami, you need to play a Masters 1000 match against a prime Rafael Nadal on clay.
You’re equating this dominance with that. Rafa’s best-ever finish in terms of games lost in a Masters 1000 was achieved by Sinner this past weekend in Miami. Rafa Prime on clay, Sinner in Miami—that’s the equivalent of what he just accomplished.
“I believe the majority of us stated on the way in that he has been the world’s finest player. For the past five or six months, as I’ve said on record, he has defeated every player; he has triumphed over Novak three times; he has lost his first six career matches versus [Daniil] Medvedev but has won the last five.
He has defeated [Carlos] Alcaraz in the semifinals of the Rotterdam and Miami tournaments, but he has also won the Masters 1000, the Davis Cup, and a Grand Slam.
“What he did last weekend is statistically comparable to Rafa in 2010 in Monte Carlo, a tournament that Rafa has, you know, won tens of times, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
