Jannik Sinner is a man on a mission in 2024 as he stands a unique chance of winning the Indian Wells 2024 competition too, after famous maiden title wins at the Australian Open and the Rotterdam Open at the start of the year. This would put him in the category of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the only two players to have won their first Indian Wells title after winning the first Australian Open title of their careers in the same year.
Roger Federer did it first in 2004. He won his first Australian Open title in January, 6 months after winning the 2003 Wimbledon title. Federer was 22 years old at the time too, like Sinner and the year 2004 would go on to become a monumental year in the Swiss superstar’s career.
A few months later, when he came to Indian Wells, Federer was the top seed. He had a stellar run in the tournament, beating every other opponent in straight sets. All opponents, except one in the semi-final. Federer found his match in the American legend, Andre Agassi, but after losing the first set, the Swiss star didn’t make many errors. He won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the final, he defeated Tim Henman easily, 6-3, 6-3.
Four years later, it was Novak Djokovic, who was also having his ‘arrival’ moment in the tennis world, so to speak. A young and agile tennis player from the Eastern Bloc countries, ready to take over the world. And take over the world he did. At age 21, Djokovic was younger than Federer when he did it and younger than Sinner now. It was remarkable how he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the final of the Australian Open 2008.
At the 2008 Indian Wells, Novak Djokovic was not the top seed but the No.3 seed after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. The Serb defeated Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-final, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, and Nadal in the semi-final 6-3, 6-2. In the final, he beat Mardy Fish 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to take home the trophy.
Sinner has an opportunity to equal them now. But not only that, Sinner could topple them in one parameter. If Sinner wins the Indian Wells, he will not only win the AO and the Indian Wells but also remain unbeaten in 2024 so far.
That includes an ATP 500 title i.e. Rotterdam Open as well. Djokovic and Federer remain the two players with the most Indian Wells titles at 5 each. Sinner will play the winner between Thanasi Kokkinakis and Marcos Giron, in their first round match.
How did Jannik Sinner miss out on his maiden Indian Wells title last year?
Jannik Sinner faced a formidable opponent in Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner made it to the semifinals of the Indian Wells 2023 tournament, where he lost 6-7 (4-7), 3-6 to Alcaraz. Alcaraz comfortably defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the final and won the trophy.
Jannik Sinner is currently No.2 as per the ATP live rankings with 7920 points. He is only trumped by Novak Djokovic on that list with 9685 points. If Sinner wins, he will get 1000 points, which would take him to 8920 points. This would mean Sinner would still remain No.2, but would get closer to challenge Novak Djokovic for the top spot.
