Seven stats that illustrate Jannik Sinner’s amazing success in 2024
The Italian still has a drugs case hanging over his head, but on the court, he enjoyed an outstanding year in 2024
Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic
Jannik Sinner ended 2024 on top of the world, by a long way, after by far the best year of his career. Two Grand Slam titles, six other titles, including the ATP Finals crown, and Davis Cup glory means he will begin 2025 as the clear world No 1.
The only thing that he can’t control right now is the result of Wada’s appeal against the ruling by an independent panel that ruled he should face no punishment, the panel accepting his argument that two failed drugs tests in quick succession were no fault of his own. The appeal will be decided in January, when obviously things could change if it goes against him.
However, there is no doubt that on the court in 2024, he was the undisputed king, even if Carlos Alcaraz did win the other two slams. Here are seven stats that explain how he did it.
Sinner goes 73-6 on season
You can’t be world No 1 without incredible consistency and Sinner had that in spades. His total of 73 wins is the most of any player on the ATP Tour since Andy Murray stormed to 78 victories in 2016. Hopefully Sinner won’t suffer the same fate as Murray, whose body began to give out the following summer.
SINNER FIRST TO WIN TWO SLAMS, MASTERS AND DAVIS CUP
Sinner became the first man ever to win at least two slams, the ATP Finals and the Davis Cup in the same season. Matteo Berrettini, in particular, helped with the latter but the rest was all Sinner. John McEnroe, in 1984, won two slams and the ATP Finals but the USA lost in the Davis Cup final, while he also won two slams and the Davis Cup in 1981, only to lose in the semi-finals of the Masters to Ivan Lendl. Boris Becker was also one match away in 1989; he won Wimbledon, the US Open and Davis Cup but lost in the final of the Masters to Stefan Edberg.
HE WON A SET IN EVERY MATCH OF 2024
This, surely, is the most amazing statistic of all. He only lost six matches, of course, so not many players had the opportunity to beat him in straight sets but he won at least a set in every match. Total off-days = zero. Every player, even the very best, have days where they wake up and don’t feel great, for whatever reason, but even when they happened for Sinner in 2024, he found a way to at least win a set. Not only does that show his consistency, it also speaks a lot to his attitude, always looking to be his best.
SINNER DOMINATED THE TOP 10 (WITH ONE EXCEPTION)
It goes without saying, of course, given his overall stats, but Sinner dominated the other members of the top 10 in 2024, something that represented a real change on previous years. As the ATP Tour pointed out, going into this year, he was only 22-27 against top-10 opponents; as he heads toward 2025, he is now 39-32, having won 18 of his 23 battles with top 10 players this year (including 11 of his last 12). The only man he didn’t dominate, though, was Alcaraz, who won all three of their clashes. In fact, the lowest-ranked player he lost to was then No 12 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
HE FINISHED SEaSON like A TRAIN
Rather like Murray in 2016, when he won almost everything from Wimbledon onwards, Sinner dominated the second half of the season, despite the concerns over his drugs case. After losing in the quarters in Canada, Sinner won 29 of 30 matches (one walkover doesn’t count), his lone loss coming in a brilliant final against Alcaraz in Beijing.
HE WON EIGHT TITLES (plus davis cup)
Sinner’s first title of the year was his first event of the year and the first Grand Slam title of his career, won at the Australian Open, when he came from two sets down in the final to beat Daniil Medvedev. He won Rotterdam straight after and then triumphed in Miami. Injury hampered him on clay but he won Halle on grass and then, when the Tour returned to hard courts, he let rip, winning Cincinnati, the US Open, Shanghai, the ATP Finals and then Davis Cup.
Made at least QUarters of every EVENt he played
This is Roger Federer-like play. Those Italian journalists who follow Sinner all over the world can do what the Swiss did with Federer, book their accommodation safe in the knowledge that their man is very unlikely do duck out early and cost them cancellation fees; the chances are that Sinner will be there come finals weekend. None of his six losses came before the quarter-finals.
