Sinner, an exceptional season with a Big 3 twist
Jannik Sinner enjoyed a top-class 2024 season, winning the Australian Open, US Open, Masters and Davis Cup. The Italian also won five other titles (Rotterdam, Miami, Halle, Cincinnati, Shanghai).
However, despite the incredible statistics of his year (73-6 record) and 29 victories in his last 30 matches played, Sinner suffers from the comparison with the record-breaking seasons of the Big 3.
In terms of titles won on the ATP circuit, Novak Djokovic in 2011 (10) and Andy Murray in 2016 (9) do better than Sinner.
In terms of wins/losses ratio, the current world No.1 is close to the Big 3, but remains behind the staggering statistics of Djokovic in 2015 (82 - 6) and Federer in 2006 (92-5) and 2005 (85-4).
While Sinner became the first player in history to win two Grand Slams, the Masters and the Davis Cup in a single season, a season with three Grand Slam titles (also known as the Petit Slam) is arguably a far more impressive feat.
In this respect, the Big 3 currently have no competition: Djokovic has achieved it five times (2011, 2015, 2021, 2023), Federer three times (2004, 2006, 2007) and Nadal just once (2010).
And the Davis Cup, despite its historic name, has lost some of its value since the change of format, which removed home and away matches and reduced the duration of matches.
Finally, we must also mention the density of the circuit, which is very different from previous years. Although he appeared to be without competition at times, the Italian was unable to beat his main rival Carlos Alcaraz this year, with three defeats from three encounters.
By 2024, Jannik Sinner's season will surely go down in history, but the Italian will certainly need much longer to achieve one or more seasons similar to those of the Big 3.
