By year’s end, the Spaniard might take the top spot in the men’s ranking once more.
By the end of the season, a new king may take the throne in men’s tennis: Carlos Alcaraz’s victory at Wimbledon has placed him in a favorable position with respect to Jannik Sinner, the current ATP No. 1; by the end of 2024, the young Spaniard may unseat his Italian rival as the head of the sport.
Carlitos has accomplished something very rare in tennis history—winning two Slams in a short period of time. Only five other players have ever accomplished this feat. Due to the Spaniard’s performance, Sinner’s dominance in the rankings has been questioned. Numerous users and insiders have highlighted on social media how the Spaniard has outperformed the Italian in significant tournament wins. Still, Jannik leads by a respectable margin over his opponent, who trails Novak Djokovic in the rankings at the moment.
However, it should be highlighted that Sinner will face difficulty because a lot will depend on the points he needs to defend between now and the end of the season. The second half of 2023 saw the Italian talent blossom, winning trophy after title and now needing to defend a number of ground. Alcaraz, who has little left to defend until the end of the season and now has a fantastic chance to take the top spot in the rankings again, cannot say that Djokovic has accomplished even more than Sinner.
With four ATP Masters 1000 events, the US Open, the ATP Finals, and other tournaments left to play, the Spaniard only has 2170 points left to defend until the season ends. However, Alcaraz can still gain ground on his opponents. Sinner’s perspective is quite different. With 3370 points to defend, the Italian is in a precarious position because he needs to at least validate the accomplishments until 2023.
From this point on, it is evident that Alcaraz has a strong chance to win; Sinner has 1,200 more points to defend and roughly the advantage in the ATP ranking. Rather difficult for Novak Djokovic, who has to defend 5370 points from now to the end of the season. Those are outstanding numbers, and given the current trend of the season, it is unlikely that he will be able to replicate them.
Sinner has made the decision to take a break in the interim following his heartbreaking exit from the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“I apologize for having to cancel my participation in the ATP 250 of Bastad next week owing to extreme fatigue. Even if I would prefer to participate, I will heed the counsel of my team and the physicians, who suggested that I take some time to relax and recuperate. I want to perform at Bastad someday. “I’ve heard it’s a great tournament,” Jannik declared in an Instagram story, formally announcing his resignation from the Bastad competition.
Consequently, the Italian tennis player will miss all clay-court competitions up to the much awaited Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The 22-year-old had to make this decision in consultation with his teammates due to the weariness he sustained from playing for about 15 hours every day for two weeks at Wimbledon. In the upcoming days, Jannik will concentrate on regaining his energy in order to reach France in peak shape. It will take some time to recover from the five-set loss to Daniil Medvedev, especially considering how high the world number one’s expectations were for the London Slam.
The physical challenges in the quarterfinals, exemplified by a sickness he experienced in the third set that required him to leave the court for eleven minutes before returning to action, further complicated matters. One of Sinner’s primary priorities for the 2024 season is to concentrate on the Olympics, which will take place from July 27 to August 4. The tennis player will attempt to win a medal, followed by coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi.
It should be mentioned that there is a statistic that indicates the Italian does not perform well in close games. In fact, Sinner has lost seven Slams since 2021, during which time the matches have grown increasingly difficult and drawn out to be more than four hours. An unsettling figure that emphasizes one of the few areas where Italians still struggle. Although Jannik has put a lot of effort into improving his athletic endurance, which has helped him accomplish some very amazing accomplishments, he may still have room for improvement when compared to his most experienced competitors.