Jannik Sinner’s US Open Triumph: A New Era in Tennis Begins After Big Three

Men’s tennis will see a dramatic change in 2024 as Jannik Sinner, the top-ranked player in Italy, and Carlos Alcaraz, a Spaniard, usher in the era of the Big Three—Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

With Sinner winning the Australian Open and the US Open and Alcaraz winning the French Open and Wimbledon, these two young athletes have shared the four Grand Slam trophies this year.

A hint of Novak Djokovic can be found in Jannik Sinner’s game. The way he compresses his end of the court with that you-can’t-get-past-me baseline defence and widens the other with those angles behind his groundstrokes, together with his fluid mobility on the court and mind-bending stretches while fetching balls.

Sinner’s thoughts are somewhat influenced by Djokovic, as demonstrated by this US Open. In his capacity to mentally overcome an off-court hardship that could have easily caused him to give up on the court, he was able to ignore the surrounding noise, put on his blinders, and finish the job.

The world No. 1 player’s task was to win the US Open. He succeeded in doing so after defeating American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the championship match. However, he had to battle a doping cloud that had been hanging over him for a few weeks.

When asked about the cloud, the Italian champion replied, “It was, and it’s still, a little bit in my mind.” “I try to concentrate on the game when I’m on the court, not that it’s gone.”

The era when three legendary players dominated Grand Slam men’s tennis and continued to amass wealth well into their thirties seems to be over. Two players in their early twenties who are just beginning their journey towards greatness have dominated this year.

Sinner, a 23-year-old champion of the Australian Open, concluded his season with a US Open victory. The two winning middle chapters at Wimbledon and the French Open were written by 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. After all those years — starting in 2003 and continuing through every season — with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic written all over it, tennis history would remember 2024 as the year of Sinner and Alcaraz. You were looking for a shift? Change is genuinely upon us.

And not by happenstance either. Over the past few years, Sinner and Alcaraz have each been adding to this, eclipsing the generation that came before them. Occasionally, against the Medvedevs and Zverevs, strange victories against players like Djokovic and Nadal appeared. These significant wins this year were in high-stakes Slam matches; Sinner defeated Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinal and Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

The last time players under the age of twenty-three (Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera, and Pete Sampras) swept the four Slams was in 1993. 2019 saw the last time two men swept four Slams. That was the Djokovic vs. Nadal backend. A fierce competition appears to be just getting started in this sweeping wave of change.

Yes, it is definitely a little different. Though it’s novel, it’s also encouraging to see. It’s good to see fresh winners. Sinner remarked, “Nice to see new rivalries,” the US Open trophy in the forefront.

“There will always be players who will help me become a better player because even though they will occasionally defeat me.”

Also Read: Aryna Sabalenka Dedicates US Open 2024 Victory to Family Who ‘Never Gave Up on Her Dream’

Not too frequently this season. Sinner now has an incredible 55-5 win-loss record for 2024, with 35 of those wins coming on hard courts, which leads the tour. His total number of titles for 2024 has increased to six, which includes the Slam double in Melbourne and New York and hard-court Masters titles in Miami and Cincinnati.

Not even one of the Big Three can boast that the Italian followed up his first Slam title with a second in the same season. After Alcaraz’s Slam breakthrough a few years ago, Sinner’s big break seemed inevitable. When that moment arrived at the Australian Open this year, the young player primarily felt “relief” after overturning a two-set deficit against Daniil Medvedev in a tough final.

Sinner remarked, “This was challenging because the conditions leading up to the tournament were also challenging.” “Compared to Australia, this time I felt a little more pressure.”

The week before the US Open, information of his failed dope tests for a prohibited anabolic steroid and subsequent ban escape was made public. Sinner was aware of the issues he would face off the court and how to handle them so they wouldn’t affect him there. Rather than sidestepping the topic, he made the decision to address it head-on and speak out, from his initial New York press conference to his speech at the trophy ceremony, where he personally brought it up.

Thus, this victory would need to be viewed against that unsettling background. Sinner felt that throughout the previous few months, “how I behaved or walked on the court in certain tournaments” was not who he was.

“It took months, not just one week, to prepare for the tournament,” he stated. “Those who are more familiar with me understand that something wasn’t right. However, I gradually began to feel a little more like myself during this event.

Sinner, the tennis player, wasn’t very concerned once it started to happen. Sinner was steady and fluid after his shaky performance in the opening set of the first round. In the end, no Fritz challenge was too large for him. He couldn’t let an upset bug that had driven away two of his greatest adversaries to infiltrate him. Nothing, not even ominous clouds hanging overhead, could stop him.

“It was definitely not easy,” he remarked.