Jannik Sinner draws interesting comparison to Andre Agassi & Novak Djokovic from American’s ex-coach

Andre Agassi’s ex-coach Brad Gilbert hailed Jannik Sinner after the Italian’s third-round demolition job at the 2025 French Open. According to Gilbert, the reigning World No. 1 has surpassed his former pupil and living legend Novak Djokovic at playing a particular shot, which the iconic coach believes is the “most underrated” in tennis.

On Saturday, May 31, Jannik Sinner clashed against former ATP No. 22, Jiri Lehecka, in the third round of the ongoing clay Major. Hopes of a close contest were extinguished ruthlessly by the Italian, as he registered an utterly dominant 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 over the hapless Czech. In the aftermath of the resounding result for the three-time Major champion, Andre Agassi’s former coach Gilbert wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

“The most underrated shot is the hard neutral ball cross court @AndreAgassi was the best i’d seen until Djoker @DjokerNole (Novak Djokovic) took it to another level, now Sin City 🌆 @janniksin (Jannik Sinner) is amazing 🤩 at this”

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Brad Gilbert went on to suggest that Jannik Sinner's mastery of the shot makes things incredibly tricky for his opponents.

"You win tons of points just asking questions of your opponent and force them into bad decisions," the veteran coach added.

Six of Andre Agassi's eight Major titles came under Brad Gilbert's tutelage from March 1994 to January 2002. Later, the celebrated tennis coach went on to work with ATP stalwarts such as Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori. Most recently, Gilbert worked with WTA sensation Coco Gauff. At the 2023 US Open, Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam title, spearheaded by the behind-the-scenes coaching work of Gilbert and Pere Riba.

The 63-year-old happens to be an avid admirer of Jannik Sinner's tennis. Earlier this month, he suggested the Italian would have tasted even more success had he not served a three-month ban in the buildup to this year's French Open.

"Jannik Sinner would have won another 3-4 tournaments" - Brad Gilbert after watching Italian's impressive comeback from suspension in Rome

Jannik Sinner settled for a three-month ban with the World Anti-Doping Agency earlier this year. The suspension stemmed from the Italian twice testing positive for the banned, performance-enhancing anabolic steroid Clostebol, in early 2024.

The 23-year-old remarkably remained top of the pile on the ATP Tour's singles rankings throughout the entire duration of his ban and came back to competitive action at the 2025 Italian Open. Here, the home favorite reached the final, only to suffer a loss to rival Carlos Alcaraz at the last hurdle.

After Sinner stormed to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals in Rome, Brad Gilbert suggested that the Italian would have a few more titles under his belt had he not been suspended.

"Had Sin City 🌆 not been suspended and definitely didn’t deserve any, he probably would have won another 3-4 tournaments 🏟️ and had a big lead on the race," Gilbert wrote on X.

Sinner will next face Andrey Rublev in men's singles fourth-round action at Roland Garros on Sunday, June 1.

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Sudipto Pati

Sudipto is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda holding a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has an experience of 3+ years across the market research, travel, health, lifestyle and sports sectors.

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