Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic faced early exits at the recently concluded US Open 2024 in New York. It was Jannik Sinner, who hogged the spotlight, clinching the men's singles title as he beat American Taylor Fritz in the final.
Alcaraz and Djokovic looked jaded, especially as they had just returned from the Paris Olympics. Alcaraz took on Djokovic in the final in Paris, with the Serbian bagging gold.
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Such has been Sinner's impact this year that Alcaraz has even received a warning from Rafael Nadal's uncle Toni. Before 2024, Alcaraz was considered to be Djokovic's successor but with Sinner's rise, the opinion has now been divided.
Speaking to El Pais, Toni commented on Sinner and said, "Today, he has become a player who is practically unstoppable for the vast majority of his opponents."
"He is capable of delivering each of his strokes with great speed and of making very few unforced errors. Overcoming him from the back of the court is almost impossible, and this is precisely, in my opinion, the mistake that Fritz made in the first two sets: making the wrong decision to play very fast rallies from the back of the court and trying to surprise him or hit a winner; but making the Italian miss was, as we could see, practically impossible."
{{/usCountry}}"He is capable of delivering each of his strokes with great speed and of making very few unforced errors. Overcoming him from the back of the court is almost impossible, and this is precisely, in my opinion, the mistake that Fritz made in the first two sets: making the wrong decision to play very fast rallies from the back of the court and trying to surprise him or hit a winner; but making the Italian miss was, as we could see, practically impossible."
{{/usCountry}}Predicting a Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry, he added, "I must say that I still enjoy Alcaraz’ game more - I like him even more - but I must also admit and fear that the current leader's notable improvement, especially on a mental level, will make things really difficult for him. The rivalry is definitely on."
With his win in the final, Sinner also became the first Italian man to bag the US Open title. At the start of the tournament, he was shrouded by a doping controversy. It was revealed he tested positive twice for an anabolic agent in March, but avoided a ban. An independent tribunal accepted his defence that the test results were affected by unintentional contamination.