A leading sports psychologist credited with guiding a slew of top Formula 1 drivers is doing his bit to give Jannik Sinner the edge as he pursues a third straight Australian Open crown this fortnight.
Lessons have been taken on board since 2020 when the Italian, then an unpolished talent, first began to put the tennis world on notice.
While much of the talk leading into the world No.2’s Melbourne Park campaign had centred on him fine-tuning his serve to gain an edge, Sinner revealed he still relied on Dr Riccardo Ceccarelli’s advice ahead of his second-round meeting with Australian James Duckworth on Thursday night.
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Like the service motion, it is still very much a work in progress.
“We are in contact trying to understand and also working on a couple of things,” Sinner said.
“I have my home kit with me, so whenever I need to work on, whenever I feel like, I can work with that.
“It goes a bit by period, you know? How I feel also and what mental state I am in. For sure there is still some room to improve.
“But yeah, I've been in contact with him consistently. It's good to have a stable person and he understands me now also a little bit better. By time we understand each other better. I understand his work ethic. We try to work on that.”
Duckworth, the 33-year-old wildcard, understands the magnitude of the task at hand.
Before the packed Court 6 faithful on Tuesday night, the world No.88 rallied from two-sets-to-one down against rising Croatian Dino Prizmic to clinch his first five-set win since the US Open a decade ago.
“It will be tough. He's obviously playing pretty well. He's pretty good in Australia,” Duckworth joked of Sinner.
“But if I come out and play aggressive, I think I can cause him some problems. Yeah, I know it was a couple of years ago, but I beat him once before.”
That win came at the Canadian Masters in 2021, while Sinner beat him once either side of that.
Since Sinner retired injured against Tallon Griekspoor at last year’s Shanghai Masters, the Italian has conceded only one set in his next 16 matches. The 24-year-old is unbeaten in 18 showdowns against opponents at their home major, two-thirds of those in straight sets.
Ten-time champion Novak Djokovic is the only player to have bagged three straight Australian Opens in the Open era and on Thursday, he will bid for his eighth successive third-round appearance at Melbourne Park when he meets Italian qualifier Francesco Maestrelli for the first time.
The fourth seed could close to within one win of becoming the first player in the Open era to crack 400 victories at the majors, while his 141st-ranked opponent aims to become the lowest-ranked player to beat the Serbian at a Slam.
“Performance-wise, the feeling on the court, it was great,” Djokovic said after his first-round win over Pedro Martinez.
“I couldn't ask for more. Obviously, a great serving performance. Just overall felt really good on the court that has made me feel good on it for so many times throughout my career.”
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina has returned to form following troubled patches in the past two seasons, with victory in last year’s WTA Finals.
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On Thursday night, the Kazakhstani – a finalist at AO 2023 to Aryna Sabalenka – brings a 2-0 record into her second-round clash against France’s Varvara Gracheva.
The fifth seed has not fallen in the second round at Melbourne Park since 2024 when Anna Blinkova triumphed in an epic 20-18 third-set tiebreak, but has full faith in her chances if her serve is on.
“On the serve because no matter who is on the other side, if the serve is going, then it's perfect,” she said. “Of course, little things on the serve. Maybe adjust. Be better in the first few shots of the rally, then we will see how it's going to go.”
Sixth seed Jessica Pegula seeks her 17th Grand Slam singles third round on Thursday when she meets fellow American McCartney Kessler in the first match at Rod Laver Arena.
Only Iga Swiatek, Sabalenka and Elise Mertens have reached that stage more times in the past decade.
The US Open 2024 finalist claimed her only previous meeting with Kessler in last year’s Austin final, two months after Kessler picked up her first title in Hobart.