Jannik Sinner is the talk of the town after bagging his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open. His triumph in Melbourne drew comparisons to Carlos Alcaraz’s first Majors title at the 2022 US Open. The Italian makes a strong claim to having gone through a tougher path to the trophy.
A breakthrough 2023 season saw Sinner win his first ATP 1000 event and finish runner-up in the ATP Finals. He entered the 2024 Australian Open as World No.4, a career-best rank. He was one of the title favourites and played as such. Despite facing a significantly difficult route studded with star names, he came out on top.
After seeing off two unseeded Dutchmen in the first two rounds without breaking a sweat, Sinner faced a seeded opponent at every step. He came up against #26 seed Sebastian Baez in the third round and from there on, the eventual champion’s opponents only got stronger. However, he kept his straight-set streak going, beating World No.15 Karen Khachanov and World No.5 Andrey Rublev.
Jannik Sinner faced his biggest battle in the semi-final against the record Australian Open winner, Novak Djokovic. The World No.1 won the third set after losing the first two and threatened a fightback. Djokovic is known for his resilience and ability to grind out results in long matches. However, Sinner saw him off, winning the fourth set.
He came up against the seasoned Daniil Medvedev, playing his sixth Grand Slam final. Sinner, meanwhile, was playing his first and looked deflated, losing the first two sets. The Davis Cup champion, though, mounted an incredible comeback to beat the five-setter specialist Medvedev at his own game. He became only the third player to defeat three of the top 5 consecutively in the last three matches of a Grand Slam (News Byte), after Roger Federer (2007 US Open) and Djokovic (2012 AO).
Carlos Alcaraz’s 2022 US Open path pales in comparison to what Jannik Sinner faced at 2024 Australian Open
Like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz also triumphed in the first Grand Slam final of his career at the 2022 US Open. However, many have said it was one of the easiest fields in a Majors event in recent years. It was the first Grand Slam tournament since the 2004 Australian Open that neither of the Big 4 were the first seed. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were lower down the rankings, Roger Federer had retired and Novak Djokovic was forced to sit out. He was not allowed to enter the USA after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
#3 seed Alcaraz faced unseeded opponents in the first three rounds, before meeting #15 seed Marin Cilic in the fourth. The Spaniard required five sets to eke out a win over the 2014 US Open champion. Interestingly, Alcaraz faced Sinner in the quarters, the latter then ranked World No.13. He faced No.24 Frances Tiafoe in the semis before coming up against Casper Ruud in the final. At World No.7, the Norwegian was the highest-ranked player Alcaraz crossed en route to his first Grand Slam.
While Sinner had to defeat three members of the top 5, Alcaraz’s highest opponent was ranked No.7. In fact, Ruud was his only top 10 opponent during his campaign. Additionally, the current World No.2 played three five-setters, winning thrice in straight sets. Sinner, meanwhile, won all matches until the semi-final without losing a set. Despite a much harder path, his rampaging form meant Sinner dominated the field for his first Grand Slam title.
