Novak Djokovic says he ‘made a mistake’ with the advice he gave to Jannik Sinner.
World No. 7 Novak Djokovic recently said he might have made a mistake by giving Jannik Sinner some advice early in the young Italian’s career.
Even though Djokovic is considered one of the greatest players ever, along with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, his top form has slowed down a bit. He hasn’t won a Grand Slam since the 2023 US Open. Meanwhile, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been winning big titles, and Alexander Zverev also broke through by winning the 2026 French Open.
Djokovic was hoping to win his 25th major at Wimbledon, but Sinner stopped him in the semi-finals with a straight-sets win, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Right now, Sinner leads their head-to-head matches 7-5, even though Djokovic won four of their first five games.
While Sinner beat him at Wimbledon, Djokovic did get revenge by beating Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals earlier in 2026, before losing to Alcaraz in the final.
On Andy Roddick’s Served podcast last year, Darren Cahill, who coaches Sinner, shared how Djokovic was happy to give advice to younger players. Cahill said Djokovic was really helpful when he asked about Sinner’s game. Djokovic pointed out that Sinner hits the ball well but doesn’t vary his shots much, doesn’t add height over the net, rarely comes to the net, and doesn’t attack the serve on returns.
Djokovic broke down Sinner’s game in detail, which wasn’t new info but still made a big impact on the young player. Sinner took the advice seriously and started working on those changes.
But looking back, Djokovic might wish he had kept that advice to himself. At Fanatics Fest in New York this July, he joked, “I gave him all the tips about his strengths and weaknesses, and then for the next three years, he beats me at Wimbledon every year! So maybe I made a mistake, I don’t know.”
The US Open first round starts on August 30.