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<\/p>\n Player Features
\n Svrcina remembers 16-year-old Sinner: ‘You could definitely see the potential’<\/p>\n
Svrcina provides exclusive insight ahead of his showdown with Sinner at Indian Wells<\/p>\n
March 06, 2026<\/p>\n
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ATP Tour<\/p>\n
Dalibor Svrcina is competing in Indian Wells for the first time.
\n By Andrew Eichenholz<\/p>\n
In May 2018, 16-year-old Jannik Sinner<\/a> was playing the final tournament of his junior career in Milan when he faced Czech Jonas Forejtek<\/a> in the third round. In the crowd that day was another Czech player, Dalibor Svrcina<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was playing good, but you wouldn’t say he was something so special. You could definitely see the potential, but he was still young, skinny, and making some errors,\u201d Svrcina told ATPTour.com. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely amazing to see the progress of Carlos and Jannik, because I knew both of them in the juniors and they really were not ahead so much. <\/p>\n \u201cSo it’s really, really great to see and motivation that if you are improving and doing the right things, you can improve in your own way.\u201d<\/p>\n Svrcina will challenge Sinner for the first time Friday in the second round of the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the year: the BNP Paribas Open<\/a> at Indian Wells.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows who I am. I know him, obviously, but we never practised,\u201d Svrcina said. \u201cWe know each other from juniors a little bit. He didn’t play much juniors, but we saw each other. I\u2019ve known him since he was maybe 15, 16, so we say hi to each other, but we never got to practise with each other.\u201d <\/p>\n The 23-year-old will now stand across the net from the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time, having never previously clashed against a Top-10 opponent. Svrcina is well aware of the test he will face in the pair\u2019s first Lexus ATP Head2Head showdown.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he’s just so solid and playing so fast, taking the time away. He can do basically everything,\u201d Svrcina said. \u201cYou can see that before, maybe one or two years ago, he didn\u2019t have so much variation in shots, like maybe Carlos\u2019 drop shots.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you can see he is trying to improve that. He is trying to play some drop shots. You can see that they are always working on something to improve. So, basically, I will see on Friday what\u2019s so amazing about it, but let\u2019s see. I am looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n You May Also Like: Sinner reveals subtle change he’s making to his game at Indian Wells<\/a><\/p>\n The Czech has taken inspiration from watching Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> continue to reach new heights. Svrcina is currently finding a lot of joy in the knowledge that every day, he can find a way to improve.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can go to the gym, you can work on yourself, mentally, physically. This is the part of tennis that you don’t see much with the players because mostly you see how they practise, how they play matches,\u201d Svrcina said. \u201cBut you don’t see the stuff they do at home or in everyday life. So I’m enjoying that a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
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