Boris Becker is one of the most influential figures in tennis till date, having ample of experience as a successful player and coach alike. Having seen Novak Djokovic transforming his game and fitness levels from close quarters for many years, Becker has named his former pupil’s successor once the 23-time Grand Slam champion retires from the game. According to the youngest Wimbledon champion till date, it is Jannik Sinner who has to be considered as the third favorite to win the upcoming US Open 2023 Championships after Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
Perhaps it is not surprising that Becker has placed his bets on Sinner to take home the US Open trophy as well as succeed Djokovic in the future. Many had previously believed that Daniil Medvedev was the ideal player to fulfil both those predictions. However, with Jannik Sinner winning the Rogers Cup 2023, the Italian youngster seems to have made a solid impression and a strong case for himself.
Is Jannik Sinner the US Open favorite with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz?
Jannik Sinner got a dream start to the North American swing with a win in Canada, as he overcame the disappointment of losing in the Wimbledon 2023 semi-final to none other than Novak Djokovic. Besides a paycheck of nearly a million dollars, Sinner was rewarded with 1000 points which made him jump from No.8 to No.6 in the ATP rankings. However, he suffered from an upset in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters, losing in straight sets to unseeded Dusan Lajovic.
Sinner’s loss could be either attributed to perhaps having just one odd, bad day at the office or perhaps playing in back-to-back competitions in which there isn’t much of recovery time for players between matches. However, Becker believes that winning the Rogers Cup was a breakthrough moment for Sinner in his short career so far, since it is a Masters 1000 event where the competition is extremely high. He also called the 22-year-old as ‘Djokovic’s predestined successor’ who has the mental and physical skills to win the upcoming Grand Slam.
Boris Becker was quoted as saying in Eurosport Germany’s Das Gelbe vom Ball podcast –
“When you win a 1000 competition, that’s a breakthrough – especially in the case of Jannik Sinner, who has been considered Djokovic’s predestined successor for the past two years.
Jannik Sinner has won 41 out of 53 matches he has played this year so far, with the Wimbledon semi-final being his best result in any Grand Slam he has participated in so far. Before winning the Rogers Cup, he had lost both the Masters 1000 finals he was a part of. Sinner has been complemented by many for his potential including the great Novak Djokovic himself, who called the youngster a ‘complete player’ at Wimbledon 2023.
Early exit at Cincinnati will help Jannik Sinner
Coming back to Boris Becker’s views, he does not read too much into Jannik Sinner’s Cincinnati loss as he believes that it is a positive. This is because it can give Sinner more time to rebound and prepare himself for the much more important, US Open tournament. So for the German, Sinner will go in as a favorite to win the Grand Slam alongside Djokovic and Alcaraz. Becker continued in the podcast –
“He has had more time to recover and I think he has the self-confidence and physical fitness for that. For me, he’s at the top of the list of favourites.”
After the revelation of the US Open 2023 draws on Thursday, Jannik Sinner is in the same quarter as Carlos Alcaraz. The two young stars could clash against each other once again in the quarterfinals of the American Grand Slam. The last time they did was in 2022 when Alcaraz prevailed in a high-voltage, see-saw, 5-set clash. Adding to that, Alcaraz leads Sinner 3-1 on all hard courts when it comes to their head-to-head.
So that could make Jannik Sinner’s task tougher. Before the quarterfinals itself, Sinner would need to beat a player like Alexander Zverev or Andy Murray in the Round of 16, which is a tricky proposition. But even if Sinner pass both those tests, it would be mostly the 2021 champion, Daniil Medvedev awaiting him in the semifinals. Should he even make the final, the likes of Novak Djokovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas could then play him. Although nothing is impossible as many say in life and sport in general, it would still take a courageous person to back Sinner for winning the Grand Slam.
