Jannik Sinner struggles with serve but moves on against Richard Gasquet

Jannik Sinner has the skills to be a top-five ATP player for many years. He and Carlos Alcaraz could be battling for major titles over the next decade once Novak Djokovic decides to retire. But Sinner can also be maddeningly inconsistent.

Sinner started the season fairly strong with a win in the Montpellier Open in February and then he lost to Daniil Medvedev in his next tournament, the Rotterdam Open. But since the ATP Masters tourney in Monte Carlo in April, Sinner has not had great success. He hasn’t advanced past the quarterfinals in any tournament and lost in the second round of the French Open.

Fast forward to Tuesday and while Jannik Sinner did defeat Richard Gasquet in the first round of the Terra Wortmann Open in three sets – 6-3 5-7 6-2 – Sinner still struggled mightily at times, especially with his serve. Players with strong serves tend to do will on grass courts and players who struggle in that area, don’t.

Jannik Sinner moves on at Terra Wortmann Open

While Sinner did have 11 aces against Richard Gasquet, he only landed 52 percent of his first serves. He also won just 56 percent of his second serves. Thankfully for Sinner, he did hit 41 winners to Gasquet’s 25 and that was really the difference in the match.

And no offense to Gasquet, but Jannik Sinner is going to face a lot stiffer competition moving forward at the Terra Wortmann Open and those players, like Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, are not going to be as forgiving for a player struggling with inconsistencies.

All that said, Sinner is capable of defeating every player left in the tournament. The 21-year-old Italian and number 9 ranked player on the ATP circuit is also capable of winning multiple majors in his career. But he needs to figure out how to play better on grass first.