Beyond The Numbers
Inside Sinner’s sensational serving surge
Read Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the Italian’s serving improvement
March 28, 2026
ATP Tour
Jannik Sinner has taken his serve to a new level this season.
By Andrew Eichenholz
ATP No. 1 Club member Jim Courier told a story on Tennis Channel while commentating on the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev. The first time Courier met Simone Vagnozzi, one of Sinner’s coaches, was four years ago in Miami, he said.
At the time, Sinner had recently parted ways with longtime coach Riccardo Piatti and begun working with Vagnozzi. Courier encountered Vagnozzi at the ATP Masters 1000 event and stopped him in the corridor.
“[I] introduced myself and said, ‘What are you going to do with Jannik? What are things you guys would like to work on?'” Courier recalled. “The first thing he said was the serve. He said, ‘The serve, it’s got a hitch in it. We’ve got to get rid of the hitch and we’ve got to smooth it out. I want the toss to be more in front so he can be more offensive with his serve’.”
That year, Sinner, who used a platform serve, landed 58.1 per cent of his first serves and won 74.5 per cent of those points. The Italian won 53.2 per cent of his second-serve points and 83.2 per cent of his service games. He made marginal gains in 2023 before making a significant step forward in 2024, maintaining that performance in 2025.
But in 2026, four years on from Courier’s conversation with Vagnozzi, the coach’s work with Sinner has come to the fore. According to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers Analysis, Sinner, who has since moved to a pinpoint serve, has made huge jumps in all key service statistics in 2026 compared to his career numbers, and notable surges compared to 2025, which had been the best serving season of his career.
Sinner’s Serving Stats
| Service Stat | Career | 2025 | 2026 |
| First-Serve % | 60.4% | 61.9% | 67.5% |
| First-Serve Pts Won % | 75.7% | 79.5% | 81% |
| Second-Serve Pts Won % | 55.5% | 59.1% | 57.8% |
| Aces Per Match | 6.5 | 6.3 | 11.1 |
| Service Games Won % | 86.4% | 92% | 94% |
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In 2025, Sinner led the ATP Tour in percentage of first-serve points won (79.5%), second-serve points won (59.1%) and service games won (92%). In 2026, through the Miami semi-finals, he is performing even better in two of those three categories: first-serve points won (67.5%) and service games won (94%).
A big reason why is that Sinner is landing significantly more first serves than he has at any point in his career. Last season, the Italian landed 61.9 per cent of his first serves, his best mark for a year. In 2026, he has made 67.5 per cent of his first serves, an improvement of more than nine per cent.
That is a massive step up for a player of Sinner’s calibre. The 25-time tour-level titlist has already spent 66 weeks as the No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings and is making notable improvements to his game.
The two-time Nitto ATP Finals champion has not sacrificed effectiveness in landing so many more first serves. The World No. 2 has actually performed better with his first serve, winning 81 per cent of those points, also a career best.
It has also reflected in Sinner’s aces count. The 24-year-old was never a player who struck many aces, hitting 6.3 aces per match in 2025 and 6.5 per match for his career. So far in 2026, he has nearly doubled those marks with 11.1 per match.
Although Sinner has won a slightly lower rate of points behind his second serve (59.1% to 57.8%), he has improved by so much elsewhere that it has not mattered. The Miami second seed has been even more impressive on serve en route to the final at the second Masters 1000 event of the season.
Sinner’s Serving: Career vs. 2026 vs. 2026 Miami
| Serve Stat | Career | 2026 | 2026 Miami |
| First-Serve % | 60.4% | 67.5% | 70.8% |
| First-Serve Pts Won % | 75.7% | 81% | 85.2% |
| Second-Serve Pts Won % | 55.5% | 57.8% | 56.8% |
| Aces Per Match | 6.5 | 11.1 | 12 |
| Service Games Won % | 86.4% | 94% | 98% |
Sinner has lost serve only once in Miami, to Alex Michelsen in the fourth round. But perhaps his best serving performance came in the semi-finals against the in-form Zverev, when he made 74 per cent of his first serves, winning 78.9 per cent of those points and hitting 15 aces. He did not lose serve to the German, who will be World No. 3 on Monday.
Sinner now owns an 18-2 record this season according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index and has lost just one set in his 18 victories. His serve is a critical reason behind his success.
When Courier first met Vagnozzi four years ago, there was a lot of work to be done on Sinner’s serve: smoothing a hitch and allowing for more offence among the tasks. It did not happen overnight, but it is clear those efforts are paying off.
“It was a big project, a huge project to overhaul the serve,” Courier said while commentating on the Miami semi-finals. “Masterfully done, and Sinner good enough to do it.”
