Sinner strikes fear on clay courts
Jannik is determined to win at Roland Garros, and in this latest Indian Wells, he has shown unprecedented data in a part of his game.
Jannik Sinner is determined to win Roland Garros and will do everything within his power to achieve it. And we are saying this in mid-March, so you have been warned. The Italian has been quietly working on various aspects for months, getting ready for when the clay season arrives in April. What we saw at the recent Indian Wells is proof of that.
Why do we say this? His numbers speak for themselves. If we already knew that Jannik was the best player when it comes to serving numbers, in this past Indian Wells he has raised the bar almost as if he were Duplantis in every competition he enters. We might have witnessed one of Sinner's best serving performances in a long time.
Sinner leaves scary serving numbers
We are talking about Indian Wells, a tournament where the serve is not normally as crucial since it is more favorable to returners, but Jannik has taken advantage of the faster playing conditions this year to maximize his serve.
| Sinner in IW 2026 | Sinner's Average | Circuit's Average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ace Average | 8.5 | 6 | 5.8 |
| % of 1st Serve | 64% | 65% | 63% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 86% | 80% | 72% |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 58% | 58% | 51% |
| Break Points Saved | 78% | 68% | 63% |
| Serve Points Won | 76% | 72% | 65% |
| Service Games Won | 96% | 92% | 81% |
| 1st Serve Precision | 46cms | 53cms | 60cms |
| 1st Serves that don't come back | 53% | 43% | 35% |
| 2nd Serves that don't come back | 13% | 18% | 17% |
Data Source: Tennis Insights, by TennisViz.
As we can see in the table, Jannik has improved several parameters in his serve in this tournament. He has increased the points won on first serve by 6%, saved 10% more break points (conceding only 9 and being broken only twice), won 4% more service points, won 4% more service games, had 10% more first serves that were not returned, and been 7cms more accurate with his first serve.
The last statistic is particularly impressive, as he is refining something that was already amazing. Djokovic is the player who has placed his first serves closest to the lines. Historically, no one like him was more precise with his serves. The ultimate spot server. Historically, he has always oscillated between averages of 50 and 52cms. Well, in this Indian Wells, Sinner has placed his serve with an average of only 46cms from the lines, surpassing Djokovic and being light years ahead of Alcaraz (64cms) or Zverev (50cms), who are up there in the Rankings with him.
Alongside this data, the fact that he has increased by 10% the number of first serves that do not come back is astonishing to even think about. More than half of Jannik's first serves do not return to his opponent's court. Unbelievable. If we also look at where he places his serves in pressure points, one starts to wonder if he really has blood running through his veins and not horchata.
Based on what we have seen in this Indian Wells, Jannik has been hitting a lot of open serves, practicing the serve with outward spin, a shot commonly used on clay courts. This, combined with other aspects of his game, indicates that Sinner is using these tournaments as a testing ground to surprise everyone with his level on clay come April.
The losses in Australia and Doha were nothing but the price to pay for attempting to be the best when the clay season arrives. After completing the Hard Slam and winning everything possible on hard courts (in terms of M1000 and Slams), he now has to do the same on clay, the only surface where he hasn't won any major titles yet. This will change. There is no doubt about it. The question is if it will happen this year already. Considering his current form, he will surely end up lifting some title.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Sinner mete miedo de cara a la tierra batida