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Novak Djokovic’s Crown Under Serious Threat as Jannik Sinner’s Australian Open Triumph Calls for a Bold Claim From Serena Williams’ Childhood Coach

Published 01/29/2024, 7:42 AM EST

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via Reuters

A few weeks back, Serena Williams‘ former coach had picked Jannik Sinner as the player who could beat Novak Djokovic at the 2024 Australian Open. The 22-year-old Italian not only defeated Djokovic’s 33-match unbeaten run at the AO but also clinched his maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday. Now, yet again, the renowned tennis coach Rick Macci has stepped in to congratulate the Italian.

 He also made a bold claim about Jannik Sinner’s act of dethroning the world no.1. Can the Italian star yet again prove Macci right? 

Serena Williams’ ex-coach is impressed with Jannik Sinner’s consistency over the last few months

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Sinner has won 18 out of his 19 sets at the Australian Open and also became the youngest male singles finalist at the AO since Novak Djokovic in 2008. He had shown his mettle already in the later stages of the 2023 season.

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Sinner defeated Novak Djokovic twice at the end of last year. Although Djokovic still leads the H2H with Janni Sinner by 4-3, Rick Macci thinks Sinner is more than ready to challenge his throne.

Macci tweeted, “The most consistent QUALITY of Jannik Sinner is the QUALITY of his Consistency. Number One later this Year and the Italian Red Rocket has NO FEAR.” Sinner is currently sitting at number 4 with 8310 points. He still needs 1545 points to dethrone the Serbian superstar.

Jannik Sinner has now become the first Italian to win the Australian Open. However, another former coach of Serena Williams believes, that despite the defeat to the Italian in the SF of the AO, Novak Djokovic will still win two to three major titles this year.

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Patrick Mouratoglou believes Novak Djokovic will make a strong comeback

The Frenchman said Sinner’s win over the 10-time AO champion was the result of his belief in his abilities which indeed came from his last two victories over the Serb at the end of last year. Then speaking on Djokovic he said, “I would not be surprised if Novak would feel relieved after that tournament. He didn’t realize how heavy that was on his shoulders. So that was very shocking to see Novak in the semifinals of a Grand Slam being so unable to play. And Djokovic played the match that is one of the worst I think I’ve seen from him. He wasn’t there. He was definitely not on that court on that day.

Now he’s probably too disappointed, but in a few days, ‘wow, they were so heavy. I come back to normal pressure, the pressure I’m used to, which is the pressure of being number one and the greatest player of all time.’ But this is why I feel too much for him. I still think that Novak is going to win two to three Grand Slams this year,” added Patrick Mouratoglou.

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Can Djokovic make a comeback or we’re going to see these rising talents get the better of the greatest of the game in the rest of the year? Share your thoughts on this in the comment section.

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Written by:

Sayantan Roy

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Tennis has been my passion since my childhood. My sheer love and enthusiasm for the racket sport has been a major influence in me wanting to build a career in sports journalism. Additionally, being a die-hard Real Madrid fan makes me more connected to my tennis idol-Rafael Nadal, who himself is a huge Los Blancos fan and a contender to become its next President.
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