Jannik Sinner cemented his place further as not just the World No.1, but also the best player in the world on hard courts at the moment. On Sunday, Sinner defeated the resurgent Novak Djokovic 7-6, 6-3 in the Shanghai Masters 2024 final to clinch his 6th title on the surface in this season. With the Paris Masters, ATP Finals and Davis Cup Finals coming up, the Italian is primed for more glory on arguably his favorite surface. Sinner’s run is reminiscent of Djokovic’s rise when he first made a name for himself on hard courts in the late 2000s.
Starting with Sinner, at the age of 23 years and two months, he has won 15 out of his 17 career titles in total across hard courts. Arguably, his breakthrough moment was in the 2023 season when he won the ATP Masters 1000 title in Canada.
Only four top 10 players have managed to beat Sinner on the surface since the US Open last year, i.e., Carlos Alcaraz (twice), Novak Djokovic (once), Alexander Zverev (once) and Andrey Rublev (once). Having won 46 out of 49 matches this year on hard courts, his winning percentage has shot up to 94.
The fact that Sinner has already won two Grand Slams and both on hard courts as well, puts him ahead of Djokovic. At the same age, the Serb faced intense competition even on his favorite surface, having to settle just for the Australian Open 2008 victory, which he achieved at the age of 20. He turned 23 only in May 2010, and that period was still dominated by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer largely.
But Djokovic enjoyed the advantage of starting out at the age of 19, which played a role in him winning 11 out of his first 18 career titles on hard courts.
The former World No.1 won his first Masters 1000 title at the same age and his first Grand Slam at 20, being much younger than Sinner to achieve this. Although the co-incidence is that for both players, it came on hard courts and the Slam was the Australian Open.
Djokovic also managed to beat the likes of Federer and Nadal more than once on hard courts.
Remarkably, Sinner hasn’t yet won the ATP Finals, despite having played it on home soil last year. Djokovic was the man to deny him that honor. The Serb himself clinched his maiden year-end championship title at the age of 21, where he holds the edge. In the 2010 season, when he was 23, the former World No.1 had a record of winning 53 out of 65 hard-court matches, having a percentage of 81.53.
Djokovic was not the lean, mean machine that he is known to be today, back then. He eventually became more versatile and dangerous on hard courts too. This is why he is called a late bloomer by many, despite having some success as a youngster.
Undoubtedly, even at 23, Djokovic was always the player to watch out for, on this surface in particular. However, in terms of sheer consistency and dominance, Sinner could be considered far better, who has raised the level of being a specialist on it.
At one point in time, with his US Open win in 2021 and top 10 ranking, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Daniil Medvedev had overtaken the mantle from Djokovic. However, Sinner has clearly outshone Medvedev as well, dominating their head-to-head rivalry by winning seven out of their last eight matches.
Sinner vs Djokovic Shanghai Masters 2024 final
The Shanghai Masters 2024 final saw Sinner take on Djokovic for the first time since their Australian Open semi-final match. The occasion was all the more special since the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero came to watch the game alongside Roger Federer.
Djokovic, who impressed many in the tournament after a disappointing US Open exit, kept up with Sinner’s intensity in the first set, which went into a tiebreak. But Sinner has had this reputation of winning more tiebreaks than losing, especially on this surface, and that helped him take a vital first-set lead.
That was enough for Sinner to deliver a knockout punch to a struggling Djokovic in the second set, as the Italian won comfortably 6-3. The World No.1’s victory has clearly shown that the change of guard in the sport has taken place in 2024.
Although Djokovic can still be competitive, it seems unlikely that he would return to the levels he reached with his game last year, when he won three Grand Slams.
When it comes to their next assignments, Sinner is set to play in the Paris Masters ATP 1000 tournament, followed by the ATP Finals. Meanwhile, Djokovic is headed to Saudi Arabia to play in the 6 Kings Slam exhibition tournament before finalizing his next ATP appearance.
