Jannik Sinner is the iconic face of men’s tennis this season, having won two Grand Slam titles and being number 1 in the world by a wide margin. The Italian champion has more than 4000 points of advantage over the second in the ATP ranking and should finish the season as number 1 in the world, unless there are shocking surprises or injuries.
The 23-year-old from San Candido not only won six titles in 2024 – including two Majors and two Masters 1000 (Miami and Cincinnati) – but was also the most consistent player over the course of the season. His big rival Carlos Alcaraz also won two Grand Slam titles this year – the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships – but he hasn’t been as consistent in the rest of the season.
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Jannik had the small advantage of missing the Paris Olympics, which did not award ATP points. Players like Novak Djokovic and Carlitos Alcaraz – who reached the final in the Olympic tournament – showed up at the US Open in poor conditions and were eliminated in the first week.
Sinner got his first kick on the hard court playing in the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters 1000 before winning in New York losing just two sets along his run. The Italian ace didn’t play his best tennis at Flushing Meadows, but he showed a very wide margin over all opponents.
Jannik’s season is not over yet
Despite his impressive results, Jannik’s season is not over yet. The Italian ace will not play the Davis Cup this week and will be back in action in Beijing at the end of this month, before the Masters 1000 in Shanghai in October. In the most difficult period of his career, between the outcome of the independent court for the case of positivity at Clostebol (the judgment came on August 15th) and the controversy via social that covered it before and during the US Open, Jannik Sinner has placed a double triumph that has in a way surprised him in the first person.
The Italian has shown why it is currently number one in the world. He was able to isolate himself from everything, focusing exclusively on himself and the work to be done at that moment and was rewarded with a Master 1000 in less than excellent physical condition and a splendid second Slam in New York.
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Winning Cincinnati and the US Open is not something that many players have done in history. Only 7 players, before the 23-year-old from San Candido, have achieved these two consecutive successes on American hard court. The first to succeed was the American John McEnroe in 1981, seven years later the Swedish Mats Wilander. In 1998 it was the turn of Patrick Rafter to repeat the same double, then the American Andy Roddick (2003).
The last, before Jannik Sinner this season, were of course the Big Three: Roger Federer in 2005 and 2007, Rafael Nadal in 2013 and Novak Djokovic (2018 and 2023). The blue continues to grind goals and enter very restricted clubs to which belong the three great monsters of tennis that have dominated in the last twenty years. But he has no desire to stop or sit down: “I can’t wait to get back to training and work. There are still things I need to improve on” is the leitmotif that Jannik is getting used to, repeated during the award ceremony in Flushing Meadows.
A new era
The 2024 numbers clearly showed that the ATP tour is totally dominated by two of the tennis players, present and future of this sport: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Two Grand Slam titles and a Master 1000 for the 21-year-old Iberian, even six trophies for the number one in the world, divided equally between majors, Masters 1000 and ATP 500 (two per category). An obvious superiority over all other players, a duopoly coinciding with the worst season of 37-year-old Novak Djokovic, who had no titles in 2024 except for the long-awaited Olympic gold in Paris.
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Sinner and Alcaraz have shared the Grand Slam trophies equally. The Italian opened and closed the year, triumphing over the concrete of the Australian Open and the US Open. Carlitos was the star of the season, with a back to back at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. This season is a rare case. Jannik Sinner (23) and Carlos Alcaraz (21) have shared the four majors of the year. This is only the third time in history that there has been no sample over 23 years of age. The last time a similar case occurred was 31 years ago, when in 1993 Courier, Bruguera and Sampras succeeded. The other in 1974 with Connors and Borg (3 titles for the first, one for the second).