Imagine idolizing someone so much that you manifest meeting them, and if the stars align, you one day end up crediting your victory to your icon. For Jannik Sinner, something similar happened on the Parisian clay on June 6th, 2025. After clinching the victory in the Roland Garros semi-finals against his idol, Novak Djokovic, Sinner took a moment to acknowledge how fortunate he feels to share the court with the Serbian. He mentioned, “I was lucky that I could share the court with him.” At the same time, the Italian also compared his game style to that of Djokovic. “It’s not the same, because we are different, but at times similar,” stated Sinner. Well, it seems like he is not the only one who thinks like that.

Interestingly, talking about Jannik Sinner‘s style of play after the Italian bested Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open final earlier this year, Zverev drew parallels between Sinner and Djokovic. He said, “He’s very, very similar to Novak (Djokovic) when he was at his best. They barely miss.”

Guess what? Even ex-American pro Andy Roddick has now confessed that the Serbian is, indeed, a “prototype” for how Sinner’s dominating the tennis court lately.

In case you missed watching last night’s epic French Open semifinal between 23-year-old Sinner and 38-year-old GOAT Djokovic, you might have missed a spectacular shot from the Italian. It came during the second set, when Sinner was about to serve after winning the first set 6-4. Novak Djokovic, as usual, was showing his charisma to stay in the match, but his mirror image, Sinner, didn’t look like he was in the mood to give any point away. With that, he hit a fabulous second serve ace that went past the Serbian. He seemed clueless about how to return such a powerful, speedy shot.

Well, in his prime, we have seen Djokovic hit plenty of similar, jaw-dropping serves. However, Sinner made it look like an upgraded version. Faster, more dominating, more lethal. And that’s how Roddick reacted to the level shown by both Djokovic and Sinner at Court Philippe-Chatrier on Friday. He had just one simple word to describe such a display of force and ball striking. “It’s impossible.”

The 2003 US Open winner added, “The thing is that me saying that they are doing this isn’t disrespectful to someone like Pete (Sampras). It’s because of someone like Pete. It’s because of Laver. It’s because of McEnroe. They are basically mind-melting the best parts of all these players and putting into like these human bodies where they can all do it all. Like there’s no weak side. I mean there’s a weaker side but there’s no weak side.” Roddick wanted to imply that similar to Sinner, Sampras, Laver, and McEnroe had a lot of power in their serves. They used topspin and a whipping motion at contact with the ball. Hence, they were able to land strong shots on the other end of the court.

Moreover, he went to say that the way Sinner is playing at 23 is more akin to how the Serbian played. But, the Italian has just upped the level. “Novak is the reason why Sinner looks the way he does. He is the prototype for Sinner.” Concluding his remarks, he said, “And then Sinner added topspin on the back where he just rips over it. And it’s good on clay, it’s good on hard.”

Back in the day, Djokovic was known for producing some of the most unimaginable shots. Remember his iconic crosscourt forehand – famously known as ‘The Shot’ – that he hit against 20-time slam winner Roger Federer? At the 2011 US Open, during the semifinal clash, the score line read 7-6, 6-4, 3-6,2-6, 5-3 (40-15) in favor of the Swiss Maestro.

Who would have thought Djokovic would turn the tables from that point? From the brink of defeat, he fought back to pull off one of the most iconic tennis triumphs. His savior? One single, brutal crosscourt return on Federer’s serve. It broke the latter’s momentum so bad that he ended up losing the game that he was supposed to win. He lost the next game as well, as the score leveled at 5-5 in the fifth set. And then it was all Djoker’s show as he stunned Federer by winning the last set 7-5, confirming an entry into the final with a score line of 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5. Not to mention he eventually won the title as well, defeating 22-time slam king Rafael Nadal in the summit clash.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to be the story this season at the Roland Garros. Yes, Djokovic gave a great fight to Sinner but couldn’t even snatch a set from him on Friday. He lost the final spot with a score line of 4-6, 5-7, 6-7. However, the Serbian was happy for one reason, making a hilarious confession.

Novak Djokovic relieved for this reason after losing to Jannik Sinner

The latest defeat brought another heartbreaking exit at a slam this year for Novak Djokovic. Back in January, he was forced out due to a hamstring injury in the Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev. Now in Paris, Sinner just overpowered him.

But guess what? Taking the outcome in positive spirits, the Serbian made a hilarious confession. It was basically a compliment to the World No.1 Italian’s ruthless way of tennis he’s playing lately. “He was just too good for me tonight. Had some chances in the 3rd set and the set point where I had a forehand and I missed it. That’s what these kind of guys like Sinner and Alcaraz, particularly, present on the court. They put pressure. They’re constantly on you. They increase the pressure as the match progresses. When opportunities are presented.. they’re very rare.. so that makes you more anxious. You wanna go for the shot. That’s what happened, I missed.”

Reacting to the match result, Djokovic then expressed deep relief. Why? “It’s good not to get a bagel or a breadstick from Sinner here tonight. He’s been giving those quite a bit this tournament.” The three-time French Open winner confessed that Sinner “was the deserved winner. I felt constantly under pressure. He didn’t allow me to kind of have time to swing through the ball.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic’s dream of winning the 25th Grand Slam still remains unfulfilled. Next up is the Wimbledon on grass court. Is he looking to make an attempt there? “I guess my best chance is maybe Wimbledon to win another slam. Or a faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that.” What are your thoughts on his French Open campaign in general? Also, can he eventually touch the magical number of 25 majors at the All England Club? Let us know in the comments below.