In the world of men’s tennis right now, there is nobody better than Jannik Sinner. At least that’s what the ATP rankings say, with the three-time Grand Slam winner sitting pretty at the top of the world standings.
His performances on the court match the tagline, too. Sinner was crowned Australian Open champion for a second time earlier this year, before narrowly missing out on a first-ever French Open title in this month’s final against Carlos Alcaraz.
But according to one former Wimbledon champion, Sinner isn’t actually all that, with parts of his game having been “quite poor”. At least when the Italian is playing in a wheelchair, that is.
Those were the tongue-in-cheek words of wheelchair tennis ace Alfie Hewett, who in an exclusive interview with Express Sport opened up about practising alongside Sinner. The pair met for a session at last year’s Miami Open, with Hewett having been initially surprised by one aspect of Sinner’s wheelchair game.
The 27-year-old explained: “What surprised me was how well he served in the chair, he was putting them down with good accuracy and speed, which you’d expect when he’s on his feet, but in a chair it’s one of the toughest challenges. You’re serving from such a low position, but he seemed to learn it quite quickly.”
However, with a wide grin on his face, Hewett couldn’t help but take a cheeky dig at the world No.1. He added: “But the rest of his game was quite poor, so I think if I was to play him in a match in a chair, I’d fancy my chances.”
Hewett, who completed the singles career slam at Wimbledon last year, has a stunning total of 10 grand slam titles to his name. The Norwich-born star will travel to the All England Club this year, aiming to defend his title, with Hewett admitting the anticipation ahead of the tournament is already building.
He explained: “I think it’s the tournament in the year that will always stand out because of the nature of it. The home crowd, the home media, the attention that wheelchair tennis gets and the experiences we’ve had over the years is hard not to get excited about. It’s certainly building year on year, which makes it even more exciting.”
Hewett has forged a formidable relationship alongside doubles partner Gordon Reid, with the duo holding the current titles for Wimbledon, the Australian Open, US Open, Olympic Games and most recently, this year’s French Open.
On their partnership, Reid mused: “Well, I think the best thing is probably just that we both have the matching desire to be better and to be successful. And I think that’s probably one of the key areas, or key reasons why we’ve had so much success over such a long period, because if you both aren’t that invested and willing to put in the work, then it’s usually not going to work out.”
Wimbledon gets underway on Monday, June 30 with the championships set to run until Sunday, July 13.
Vodafone, Official Connectivity Partner of Wimbledon, is working with long term ambassadors Alfie Hewett OBE and Gordon Reid OBE as part of its latest brand campaign, which celebrates connecting friends this summer on The Nation’s Network.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk