Jannik Sinner: Three stats that prove Italian on cusp of major breakthrough
No matter who you are, if you beat Novak Djokovic on a big stage, or any stage, you should be excited by the level of your tennis. Jannik Sinner, though, has even more cause for excitement than most.
Sinner delighted the Turin crowd by winning a three-set thriller against Djokovic at the ATP Finals to put himself in prime position to qualify for the semi-finals.
It’s perhaps easy to look at the crowd backing and home advantage and wonder whether that was the deciding factor in the match. However, the truth is that Sinner has been on a very impressive trajectory for some time now and the win over Djokovic was mere affirmation of what he is already achieving.
So, here are four stats that show Jannik Sinner is on the cusp of a big breakthrough.
Jannik Sinner keeping elite company
Not only did Sinner beat Djokovic at the ATP Finals, but he did so by winning a deciding-set tiebreak. That may not sound like it should be a big deal, but it is.
In fact, Sinner is just the tenth player to ever do it, and only the third to have done it in the last ten years (Carlos Alcaraz and Dominic Thiem), and that isn’t even the most impressive thing about it.
He is actually just the third player to do it before their 23rd birthday. The others are Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. Now that is what you call elite company.
Impressive year
Players are generally judged on the majors they win, and obviously Sinner has not been able to achieve that this year.
However, to win majors we all know that you have to beat the top players in the world, and this year Sinner has proven he can do that.
Indeed, Sinner is the only player on the ATP Tour to have beaten Djokovic, Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev this year.
Not only that, but he has actually beaten the latter two twice.
INCREDIBLE SCENES!!!
The roof nearly comes off as @janniksin gets the HUGE win over Djokovic!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/xlOkTCYvnQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 14, 2023
Jannik Sinner showing elite consistency
At the minute we are talking about his achievements either in isolation or over the course of the year, but his recent results show genuine consistency.
Even if you are among them, as Sinner is, beating top five players is incredibly difficult in the ATP Tour. Beating them consistently is even tougher.
That is exactly what Sinner has done, though. In fact, he has won all of his last five matches against Top five players.
Beijing – SF – #2 Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6, 6-1
Beijing – F – #3 Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 7-6
Vienna – SF – #5 Andrey Rublev, 7-5, 7-6
Vienna – F – #3 Daniil Medvedev, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Turin – RR – #1 Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6
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