Jimmy Connors thinks Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have been so great this year that it is safe to state that they will start winning some matches in the locker room because there is now “a fear factor” in playing against them.
At the start of the season, the 23-year-old Italian became a Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open after impressively becoming the first player to beat Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park since 2018 and also recovering from a two-set deficit in the final against Daniil Medvedev.
After making a splash early in the year, Sinner also reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in June – added five more titles to his collection – including his second Major win at this past US Open. Overall, he holds an impressive 55-5 record in 2024.
On the other side, Sabalenka successfully defended her Australian Open title without a dropped set at Melbourne Park. And just like the Italian, she also went all the way at Flushing Meadows this year and she now has three Slams in her collection. Also, it should be noted that the Belarusian is currently on a 12-match winning streak, having won the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati before the US Open.
“Jannik Sinner and Sabalenka now have a fear factor, other players fear them. That means they will start winning matches before they even step on the court. Confidence is: ‘I will play against you for five hours if necessary, no matter what it takes, you have to find a way to beat me because I will not beat myself’. To me, that is what great players work for. They have the game, the mentality and everything it takes to win matches, but they have that little something extra that makes their opponent know they have to kill them to beat them. That is something special and I think both Sinner and Sabalenka have that now. It is really special,” the former eight-time Slam winner said on the Advantage Connors podcast.
Connors: Sabalenka was on a mission…
Last year, the Belarusian tennis star was also close to winning both the Australian Open and US Open – but fell just short after Coco Gauff came back from a set down in the final at Flushing Meadows. In the moment, the world No. 2 cried and was crushed over missing out on winning a Major in such a way.
But what she didn’t manage to do last season, she was able to accomplish this year as this is the first season where the 26-year-old has managed to win two Grand Slam titles in a single year. And considering that Sabalenka has had four Major finals since the start of 2023 against Iga Swiatek’s two Slam finals at the French Open, Connors thinks there is no doubt when it comes to who has been more consistent on the biggest stage over the last two years.
“Last year, she lost that US Open final to Coco Gauff and then she went to Australia determined and just won her second Australian Open. She probably wanted to avenge the US Open again last year and kind of blew the court away again. So, she’s more consistent than Iga. Also, Aryna is just nice, even if she doesn’t win the match. She’s funny, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, she can laugh at herself. It seems like now she’s OK when something goes against her, she’s able to bounce back and make up for it,” the American former world No. 1 explained.
Connors also had a warning for Novak Djokovic
While Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have achieved the most this year, Djokovic finished a season without a Slam title for the first time since 2017. And his US Open run was particularly disappointing after he suffered a shock third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin.
While the American tennis legend acknowledged on his podcast that the 37-year-old Serb was coming off a huge Paris Olympics triumph, he also noted that the competition – in this case Popyrin – sensed that he was vulnerable.
“He went from the grass to the clay with all the hype and pressure of winning the Olympic gold. Then to come back on hard courts, he hasn’t prepared by playing any matches. These young kids, once they get a feel that you’ve lost that aura around you, that you’re unbeatable and that they have a chance, a lot of these kids, they see that now. And that’s what happened,” the American tennis legend said.
However, Connors also highlighted that Djokovic can’t be written off despite his early US Open exit and not having a Slam year he would have liked.