Jannik Sinner’s secret to retaining the top spot ahead of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner believes he has a pretty clear idea of ​​how to maintain his world number one position in the long term. The 22-year-old Italian is convinced that continuous improvement and always being one step ahead of the competition are the keys.

After clearly taking his game to a higher level in late 2023, Sinner continued his rise at the start of the 2024 season and it wasn’t long before he became a Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open. A few months after winning his first Major, the Italian achieved his next big goal and dream: becoming the highest-ranked player in the world after the French Open for the first time in his career.

Sinner currently has just over 300 ranking points ahead of world number 2 Novak Djokovic and also around 800 points ahead of number three Carlos Alcaraz.

“If you just want to maintain the position, you have to improve. And if you want to get better, you have to improve more than the others. I think it’s a good balance between how much work you do and how much quality you can put into the work,” Sinner said in Cincinnati.

Sinner admits he doubted he could ever be here

Before all this happened to Sinner, he had failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals at Grand Slam level, struggling to perform in matches against the best players on the biggest stage.

But that has now been resolved and Sinner is now the top favourite for the title wherever he goes.

“We all have doubts. Sometimes, even before I won a Grand Slam, I doubted whether I could win a Grand Slam or not. And then you reach the point where you win. After that, you know in your head that you can do it, but you still have to work hard for it,” Sinner explained.

Meanwhile, Sinner is back in action at the Cincinnati Masters after missing the Paris Olympics due to tonsilitis. In Cincinnati, Sinner is the top seed and has a bye in the first round before facing either Alex Michelsen or Tallon Griekspoor.