Jannik Sinner has officially replaced Novak Djokovic at the very top of men’s tennis after the Serb legend’s withdrawal from the French Open 2024. Sinner’s improvements over the past year have enabled him to become the first Italian man to reach this prestigious milestone. Let’s take a look at some of the memorable incidents in recent history that helped the 22-year-old overpower Novak Djokovic.
Open Sud de France 2023 title win
By 2022, Jannik Sinner announced himself as one of the top prospects on the ATP Tour. However, only 1 title win that season made many naysayers still doubt his abilities. Sinner would soon silence them by winning the Open Sud de France 2023 title.
En route to lifting the ATP 250 title, Sinner defeated the likes of fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego, French upstart Arthur Fils, and the United States’ Maxime Cressy without dropping a single set throughout the tournament.
Sunshine Swing 2023 performance
Jannik Sinner proved that his Open Sud de France 2023 title win and making it to the Rotterdam Open finals was not a fluke. The World No.1 superseded expectations during the Sunshine Double 2023.
Sinner made an impressive run till the semifinals of the Indian Wells 2023, losing to the eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. Jannik further proved himself to be a legit contender for winning titles at the ATP Masters level with a finals appearance at the Miami Open 2023. Despite losing to Daniil Medvedev, that performance in the United States of America witnessed the youngster getting into the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.
Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals and turning around Novak Djokovic rivalry
During his breakout season (2023), Jannik also showed that he was equally as good a player on the grass court surface as well. He did so by making his way into the semifinals of Wimbledon 2023. Novak Djokovic ended the Italian’s run, but the entertaining three-set entertaining clash witnessed the start of an unexpected rivalry between the two.
Since then, Djokovic and Sinner played 4 more times against each other. Sinner, who showed that he took a lot of learnings from his previous losses, has won 3 of those matches. Two of those were big semi-final clashes at the Davis Cup 2023 and the Australian Open 2024 respectively.
It is only fitting that Sinner overtook Djokovic for the No.1 spot.
2023 Canadian Open win
Jannik managed to finally get his hands on an ATP Masters 1000 trophy by winning the Canadian Open 2023. The San Candido native dominated the tournament, defeating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 in the finals encounter. Even though Novak Djokovic did not play the tournament, the victory did wonders to Sinner’s confidence besides his ranking points and prize money winnings.
Turning around the Daniil Medvedev rivalry
In the initial part of his rivalry with Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner lost all their first 6 clashes from the start of 2020 till the spring of 2023 in Miami.
After that, Jannik Sinner faced Daniil Medvedev 5 more times and won all those matches. While Medvedev still leads 6-5, Sinner’s wins are proving to be more memorable.
The Italian scripted his run from the Beijing Open 2023 finals and extended it to the Vienna Open 2023 finals, the ATP Finals semi-final and the Australian Open 2024 finals, upto the Miami Open 2024 semi-final.
The Miami Open 2024 is Sinner’s second ATP Masters 1000 title of his career.
While many believed that Jannik Sinner could struggle in the clay swing because of his perceived lack of prowess on the surface and his injury at the Madrid Open, the Italian has proved his detractors wrong again. He has reached the semifinals of the French Open and could have a shot at winning back-to-back Grand Slams in 2024 if he beats his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz.
It has been an incredible and well-deserved rise to the top for Jannik Sinner as he has done well on all surfaces and in nearly all conditions. With Novak Djokovic reportedly unlikely to play the Wimbledon 2024, Sinner could have a golden opportunity to extend his reign at the top for many weeks to come. Alcaraz is the only name that stands in the way of the Italian’s dominance, marking a new era in tennis.
