Jannik Sinner ties up Marat Safin

This week the Masters 1000 in Montreal will be played, which will be one of the big US open preparatory tournaments together with the Masters 1000 in CincinnatiThe main contender for victory in Canada is certainly Jannik Sinnerwho will feel the pressure to defend the 1,000 points he won last year in Toronto (when he won the first Masters 1,000 of his young career).

The young Italian was forced to Olympic Games in Paris due to tonsillitis, a very painful decision as the Games were one of the main goals of the season for Jannik. The Australian Open 2024 champion is playing a fantastic 2024, which has definitively dedicated him to the strongest players in the world.

Sinner topped the ATP rankings, won his first Slam in Melbourne earlier this year and also won his second Masters 1000 in Miami. A hip problem affected his preparation for the French Open, where he reached the semi-finals, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets. The 22-year-old from San Candido was also a favorite at the Wimbledon Championships, but was eliminated by the Russian Daniel Medvedev in the quarterfinals also due to a flu virus that struck him the evening before the match.

Sinner has started its ninth week at No. 1

Jannik Sinner – who will also play the doubles tournament in Canada – has just started his ninth week as world number 1, equaling Russia’s Marat Safin to 21st place in the all-time rankings. His next targets are Boris Becker (12), Andy Roddick (13) and Daniil Medvedev (16).

Meanwhile, Serbian legend Novak Djokovic won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Serbian champion had not yet won a title in 2024, as his last triumph came at the ATP Finals in Turin in November 2023. It was a particularly symbolic victory, as he gave the gold medal to Serbia. And because it was a success that was missing from Nole’s extraordinary list of achievements.

Spanish ace Carlos Alcaraz, defeated in the final by Nole Djokovic, has missed the match with Jannik Sinner at the top of the ranking with the most tournaments won in 2024. Four tournaments were won by Jannik Sinner, three by Carlos Alcaraz. The ATP rankings continue to smile on the South Tyrolean player for the consistency of results over the last twelve months. The four tournaments won by Jannik Sinner in 2024 are the Australian Open, the first Slam of the season in January, then the tournament in Rotterdam in February, Miami at the end of March and finally the success in the ATP 500 in Halle on German grass. The three tournaments won by Alcaraz are Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The last two victories are of course of great specific importance.

Who will be with Alcaraz and Sinner in the multi-runners ranking in 2024? Behind Jannik Sinner and linked to Alcaraz for tournaments won in 2024 is Matteo Berrettini who has won three tournaments and all on the beaten track: to go to Marrakech, Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. The Italian tennis player is now called up for the test on American hard courts. In this particular ranking of tournaments won in 2024 with two titles each, the other multiple winners of the season, namely: Ugo Humbert, Sebastian Baez, Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur, Tommy Paul, Alejandro Tabilo and Taylor Fritz.

Jannik became the first Italian world number 1

Sinner and Alcaraz look set to compete for the top titles in the next decade. The two young champions have already won a lot and played some memorable matches, even though they have never met in a Grand Slam or Masters 1000 final.

Before the start of the Canadian Open, Jannik Sinner spoke again about his absence from the Olympic Games in Paris: “I watched some of the Olympic Games, but I didn’t watch much tennis. It broke my heart that I couldn’t go to ParisThe Games were one of my main goals of the season. In the end, if I look at everything from a broader perspective, Musetti won bronze, so an Italian is happy and I am happy for him.”

Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic will be the stars of the US Open, which will take place in New York at the end of August. Nole will have to defend the title she won last year, when she defeated Medvedev in the final. Alcaraz was defeated by the Russian in the semi-finals, while Sinner was eliminated by Sascha Zverev in the round of 16. The three biggest favorites will have to be very careful with Medvedev, Zverev, Tsitsipas and Ruud and Hurkacz, who can play great tennis on these courts.