Jimmy Connors thinks Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have been so great this year that it is safe to state that they will start winning some matches in the locker room because there is now “a fear factor” in playing against them.
At the start of the season, the 23-year-old Italian became a Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open after impressively becoming the first player to beat Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park since 2018 and also recovering from a two-set deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev.
After making a splash early in the year, Sinner also reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in June – added five more titles to his collection – including his second Major win at this past US Open. Overall, he holds an impressive 55-5 record in 2024.
On the other side, Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open title without a dropped set at Melbourne Park. And just like the Italian, she also went all the way at Flushing Meadows this year and she now has three Slams in her collection. Also, it should be noted that the Belarusian is currently on a 12-match winning streak, having won the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati before the US Open.
“Jannik Sinner and Sabalenka now have a fear factor, other players fear them. That means they will start winning matches before they even step on the court. Confidence is: ‘I will play against you for five hours if necessary, no matter what it takes, you have to find a way to beat me because I will not beat myself’. To me, that is what great players work for. They have the game, the mentality and everything it takes to win matches, but they have that little something extra that makes their opponent know they have to kill them to beat them. That is something special and I think both Sinner and Sabalenka have that now. It is really special,” the former eight-time Slam winner said on the Advantage Connors podcast.
Be the first to comment