ATP

The pride of Italy: Sinner's route to world number one in Opta numbers

By Sports Desk June 12, 2024

Step aside Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, tennis has a new world number one on the block in Jannik Sinner.

The 22-year-old, born in San Candido, ended a 51-year wait for Italy to boast the ATP's best player in the world rankings after moving to top spot this month.

Sinner overtook Djokovic at the summit of the men's game after his French Open performance, reaching the Roland-Garros final before falling in a five-set thriller to the battling Alcaraz.

Having already secured his first major at the Australian Open earlier this year, Sinner's remarkable rise continued in Paris – but how has the Italian managed to do so?

Here, we unpack the best of the Opta data to delve into Sinner's surge to world number one.

Major champion in Australia

Sinner was crowned a grand slam champion for the first time in his career back in January, defeating Daniil Medvedev in the final after overcoming a two-set deficit in Melbourne.

Sweeping aside Djokovic in the last four and Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals, his route to glory was far from straightforward, too.

Aged 22 years and 165 days at the time of his Melbourne Park triumph, Sinner became the youngest-ever player to achieve successive ATP top-five wins in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a major, surpassing Michael Stich – 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon in 1991.

That Medvedev victory, at the time, also marked Sinner's fourth top-five scalp of 2024.

Since 1973, Sinner is the only fourth player aged under 23 to claim four such wins in the opening three months of a season, after Bjorn Borg (1978-79), Miloslav Mecir (1987) and Andy Murray (2007 and 2009).

Special 2023 sets tone for this year's success

Sinner enjoyed a remarkable campaign last year, winning his first Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open and finishing the season by reaching the showpiece of the ATP Finals.

He finished with a win-loss record of 64-15 in 2023, breaking the Open Era record previously held by Corrado Barazzutti (55, 1978) for most ATP match wins by an Italian in a calendar year.

En route to the Indian Wells semi-final defeat to Alcaraz, Sinner also claimed a 19th consecutive ATP match win after overcoming Jiri Lehecka, breaking Adriano Panatta's record for the longest winning streak at ATP level of any Italian in the Open Era.

It is hard to argue with his position at the top, too.

Sinner became only the fifth player before turning 23 to defeat the men's world number three times in a calendar year, having overcome Alcaraz and Djokovic (twice) in a remarkable 2023 season.

The Italian also helped his country lift the Davis Cup, though major individual honours were always around the corner for the excellent right-hander.

The best in the world

Australian Open successes and a fine 2023 campaign brought Sinner to his crowning moment in June as he became the first Italian to reach world number one since the ATP rankings started in 1973.

Sinner is one of four players in the past two decades to hold the ATP's number-one ranking before the age of 23, along with Roger Federer, Nadal and Alcaraz.

Since 2000, Sinner is also just the third male player taller than 188 centimetres to reach the summit of tennis before turning 23, along with Andy Roddick and Marat Safin.

Related items

  • Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Rutter inspires remarkable Seagulls comeback Brighton 3-2 Tottenham: Rutter inspires remarkable Seagulls comeback

    Brighton managed a remarkable second-half comeback as Georginio Rutter scored one and played a key role for another in a thrilling 3-2 home victory over Tottenham.

    Ange Postecoglou's visitors had won their last five games, including their EFL Cup and Europa League exploits, and started well on Sunday as in-form Brennan Johnson scored for a sixth straight outing.

    James Maddison doubled the away side's lead before the interval, aided by Bart Verbruggen's handling blunder, but Yankuba Minteh halved that deficit after the restart with a thumping finish.

    Destiny Udogie was somewhat at fault for Minteh's finish, and the Spurs defence again struggled as Rutter restored parity before the hour mark after dancing around a couple of defenders.

    Former Leeds United star Rutter then edged past numerous Tottenham charges once more, with his cross deflecting up for Danny Welbeck to head in the 66th-minute winner and seal a memorable turnaround.

    Verbruggen was still required to deny Udogie late on, however, as Fabian Hurzeler's side held on for a victory that lifted them to sixth and ended Spurs' impressive winning run.

    Data Debrief: Johnson's heroics in vain

    Johnson has now scored in each of his last six appearances in all competitions, becoming the first Spurs player to do so since departed talisman Harry Kane between December 2018 and January 2019.

    The winger's six goals across 10 appearances this season are also more than he managed in 34 outings for Spurs last campaign, though Johnson's efforts proved ultimately in vain.

    Sunday marked the 10th time that Tottenham have lost a Premier League game in which they led by two or more goals – they are the first club to hit double figures for this, and have done so three more times than any other club in the competition's history.

    Indeed, this memorable turnaround saw Brighton win a league game after trailing by two or more goals at half-time for the first time since a 3-2 victory against Charlton in the Championship in December 2015.

  • Gauff took a relaxed approach in China Open final Gauff took a relaxed approach in China Open final

    Coco Gauff said her China Open triumph over Karolina Muchova came down to being relaxed.

    Gauff won 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes in Beijing to become the youngest winner of the tournament in 14 years.

    The victory marked the 20-year-old's second WTA 1000 title, which makes her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals.

    And Gauff explained she took a more relaxed approach in Sunday's showdown.

    "I was just like, 'This match is not going to change my life.' I knew regardless of the result today, I was proud. I was able to overcome and still work on things that I've been practising on, too, and stick to it," she said.

    "When you get that far, you're just happy to be in the final. I think it's just being relaxed. My first final, when I was 15, was the worst because you're like, 'I'm never going to get this opportunity again,' which is completely not true.

    "The experience of winning in the past, I realise that, yes, winning is great. It feels great right now. But tomorrow I'm going to wake up and it's a different day, 70% of the world doesn't know anything about whether I won or lost, probably even more."

    Gauff has now claimed three straight wins over Muchova, who is yet to beat the American.

    "I lost to her three times in a row. I'll say very similar losses. It was always the latest rounds of the tournaments when I got many matches under the belt," said Muchova.

    "It's very physical with her. I felt like second [best] always in the rallies."

  • Ten Hag insists Man Utd 'all on board together' amid future speculation Ten Hag insists Man Utd 'all on board together' amid future speculation

    Erik ten Hag insisted he and Manchester United's hierarchy are "all on board together" following the Red Devils' goalless draw with Aston Villa.

    United played out their fourth stalemate in five games across all competitions - losing the other against Tottenham last weekend - as the spoils were shared at Villa Park.

    The Red Devils' tally of eight points, which keeps them 14th in the table, is their lowest after the first seven matches of a Premier League season, with their struggles increasing the pressure on Ten Hag.

    However, as speculation surrounding his future continues to grow, the Dutchman remains calm on the matter, as he focused on the positive aspects of his side's performance.

    When asked if he has spoken to United's board, he told Sky Sports: "We always speak, every week we speak. We are all on board together, on one page, we know what we are working through. It's a long-term process.

    "I think it's the fourth clean sheet this season. You saw we had a very good organisation and togetherness. There was good character and good spirit as a team; determined, resilient.

    "We almost didn't concede a chance. At the end, they had a big chance [Diogo Dalot blocking Jaden Philogene's stoppage-time attempt], but I think it was almost the only chance.

    "We have come through two very tough away games. This is a team, we showed the belief and faith we have."

    However, only 19th-place Southampton (four) have scored fewer goals than United (five) so far, while only in 1972-73 (four) have they ever netted fewer in their first seven matches of a top-flight campaign.

    Ten Hag acknowledged his players must show a greater cutting edge in attack.

    "We have created loads of chances in our seven games, but we have to step up," he added. 

    "We know, at this moment, we have a lack of goals. In that perspective, it's not a good start. That's an area we have to improve."

    Meanwhile, Jonny Evans said he and his team-mates have been affected by the speculation surrounding Ten Hag, but praised the spirit demonstrated by the team.

    "It does affect the players. It's on our minds, too," the defender told BBC Match of the Day.

    "I think the more experience I've got in my career, I've made sure I do everything to be ready and give everything I can to the team.

    "That was the important thing, to show the spirit in the team. Everyone competed as much as they could. That's a pleasing thing to see."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.