Mansour Bahrami reveals what Jannik Sinner does that ‘impressed’ Stan Smith more than anything else

Stan Smith’s real thoughts about Jannik Sinner have now been revealed, after the 23-year-old claimed his fourth Grand Slam title.

A first away from the hard courts of New York and Melbourne, this marks a crucial moment in the young career of the world number one, who has diversified his trophy cabinet and proved that there is no surface where he is not a threat.

Having reached the final of the French Open earlier this year too, that notion has only been exemplified, with Jannik Sinner just one point away from the title before conspiring to somehow lose from two sets to love up.

A crushing blow that would have left most players devastated for months, or even years, he bounced back within weeks to win Wimbledon and earn the praise of Smith, an American tennis hero.

Mansour Bahrami shares what Stan Smith said to him about Jannik Sinner

Speaking on Roland Garros’ podcast, Courtside Conversations, Gigi Salmon was delighted to welcome Mansour Bahrami onto the show to deliver his insight into tennis’ main points of interest.

Naturally, with a Wimbledon title freshly added to his trophy cabinet, Sinner was chief among them.

Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images

In fact, the Iranian offered an insight into what both he and Smith, the legendary tennis star, were thinking whilst watching the Italian play in the French Open final, just under a month before he would go on to avenge that loss at the All-England Club.

He told Salmon: “I was sitting next to Stan Smith in the box at the French Open, and what impressed me the most is, and Stanley said the same thing, that he’s always in balance of what he’s doing.

“His footwork is exceptional. I was asking, how can a player hit the ball as hard as he can on the forehand side, on the backhand side, and not miss and continue like that?

“Okay, there are all players who hit the ball hard, forehand, backhand, and as soon as they have the opportunity, they hit the ball as hard as they can… But he hits every ball as hard as he can, and Stan says “Mansour, because his footwork is always in the right place. He’s never off balance,” and that is exactly how it is.”

This came after Mansour shared what he told Sinner right before the Wimbledon final.

What’s next for Jannik Sinner?

Sinner is actually yet to play a match since his Wimbledon final, opting to skip both Washington and Toronto in an effort to give himself ample recovery time as well as some much-needed time off.

After all, he has plenty of points to defend before the end of the year, not least because of his titles in both the US Open and Cincinnati.

Year Event Round reached Defeated by 2025 Wimbledon Winner 2025 Halle Open Round of 16 Alexander Bublik 2025 French Open Winner Carlos Alcaraz 2025 Italian Open Final Carlos Alcaraz

Every event Jannik Sinner has played since his return to tennis

It’s expected that the latter will be his next tournament, marking the sole preparation event before seeking to defend his crown in the final Grand Slam of the year.

If this year has taught us anything, it’s that Sinner will not be fazed by a spell away from the sport, no matter how long.

He returned from a three-month ban and instantly returned to the top of the sport. A few weeks’ rest should do him no harm.