Sinner plays wheelchair tennis in Miami: 'It's just amazing'

Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour

Jannik Sinner is often in control on the tennis court. But Monday, the Italian superstar was brought back to a beginner’s course at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The 22-year-old tried wheelchair tennis with a player who has reached World No. 1 in singles and doubles in the sport, Alfie Hewett. The Miami Open Wheelchair Invitational is taking place this week on the campus of Hard Rock Stadium.

“It's just amazing to see how how these guys play this sport,” Sinner said. “It's completely different, you are sitting in a chair and the movement is so important. We saw it now and I was struggling so much, but it's just amazing.”

After Sinner met Hewett, they enjoyed a conversation and Sinner got in a wheelchair. Hewett gave the No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings a brief introduction into moving in the chair and then the pair began rallying.

Sinner, who had a wide smile throughout the session, had a great time trying to improve and coordinate his movement with his strokes.

Hewett joined the Italian on his side of the court to show the reigning Australian Open champion his game, with coach Darren Cahill feeding the Briton balls. According to Sinner, movement in wheelchair tennis is key.

“It's also the most important part. If you cannot get the right distance from the chair and the ball and everything, you just can't play,” Sinner said. “So the movement is really tough. You have to get used to it. In the beginning, I was really stuck... It's really tough, so for me it was a big pleasure to at least try it once. It also shows how difficult this sport is and they make it look so easy.”

The Miami crowd watched closely and showed great respect to Hewett and wheelchair tennis.

“It's raising that awareness for wheelchair players and the sport,” Hewett said. “We've been on the Tour for many years now and these last five to 10 years, it's picking up a lot of momentum and we've being integrated more and more and it's little opportunities like this which can can go a long way.

“Obviously Jannik is a well-established player now on the tour and has a massive fan base and even just the the people in the crowd here, they'll walk away from this appreciating the skill and the sort of requirements of how wheelchair tennis is.”