Jannik Sinner left Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys astonished with his remarkable service display en route to his triumph at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships. Keys also shed light on the motivation behind Sinner’s decision to improve his serve, revealing that John Isner was his inspiration.
Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys Marvel at Jannik Sinner’s Improved Serve
Sinner successfully defended his title at the grass-court Major by triumphing over Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the blockbuster final. The Italian’s serve proved to be a dominant weapon during the title clash as he saved the only break point he faced. His dominance on serve was also showcased during the semifinals, as he did not concede a single break of serve to Novak Djokovic.
The world No. 1’s serve became a major talking point on the latest episode of “The Player’s Box” podcast, with Pegula humorously asserting that it deserved the award for the most improved shot on tour. The American said she was baffled by how dramatically Sinner had elevated that aspect of his game.
“His serve is so good. One of the best, most improved shots. They should give awards to Sinner’s serve. His serve is a joke. His wide serve on the ad side is insane. And every time I watch him, I’m like, ‘Ooh, like I know that’s his favorite serve and it’s like kind of low percentage.’ Like you always think, ‘Oh, there’s no way he’s going for it again.’ Just hits an ace every time. I don’t understand. Like how did your serve get so much better?” she said.
Keys then revealed that Sinner’s coach, Darren Cahill, had directed him to improve his serve, which led to the Italian’s decision to copy John Isner’s motions.
“I thought it was pretty crazy because I think I heard Darren talking about it when he first started with Jannik and one of the big things was like we need to improve your serve. That’s your thing. Basically, pick someone to watch and then just try to copy their serve. And he watched John Isner and was just like, ‘Okay, got it,'” Keys said.
Keys further emphasized that it was “crazy” that Sinner was willing to overhaul an already effective weapon despite being at the top of the sport.
“And then it’s crazy that when you’re at the top of the game or you’re one of the three at the top of the game to like keep improving and being willing to change things when you’re holding 87 consecutive times against people [Zverev] and someone comes to you like, ‘Yeah, we should make a tweak.’ The fact that he’s like, ‘Yeah, okay. No problem,'” she added.
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Isner reacted to the discussion and praised Sinner’s effort with a cheeky remark, commenting, “Serving like me with an actual baseline game is a decent combo.”
Jannik Sinner himself spoke about his service games after the Wimbledon final, emphasizing the need to “be very careful” and not allow a break of serve. He also expressed pride in the improvements he made on his serve over the course of the tournament.
