Sinner Clinches Year-End World No. 1 After Alcaraz’s Shanghai Loss

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Jannik Sinner‘s year in 2024 has been a wild ride, ending with him as the top-ranked player. He climbed to World No. 1 for the first time during the French Open when Novak Djokovic withdrew due to a knee injury before their quarterfinal clash. Sinner’s rise was fueled by an impressive start, capturing his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after a thrilling comeback against Daniil Medvedev and later triumphing at the Miami Open.

His journey wasn’t all smooth sailing; he faced tough five-set losses in both the French Open semifinal and Wimbledon quarterfinals. Missing out on the Olympics due to illness, Sinner then found himself in hot water off-court with news breaking about testing positive for clostebol twice during March’s Indian Wells Open. The International Tennis Integrity Agency cleared him, accepting that it was unintentional from massages by his physiotherapist.

Unexpected Twists:

Yet, WADA decided to appeal this decision last month, not disputing how clostebol entered his body but arguing more fault lay with Sinner himself. Despite many thinking this controversy would impact his game negatively, he proved them wrong by defeating Taylor Fritz in a one-sided US Open final to claim his second major title. Fans might wonder how he managed such resilience amidst chaos.

NameAgePointsStats 2024
it Jannik Sinner2315,40533 - 3

He also reached the China Open final but lost to Carlos Alcaraz after an intense battle: 6-7, 6-4, 7-6—one of 2024’s most exciting matches! These performances brought him closer to securing year-end No. 1 status until Alcaraz unexpectedly fell against Tomas Machac at Shanghai Masters.

With that upset and Sinner beating Medvedev there too, Alcaraz can’t realistically catch up before November ends unless he wins every remaining tournament—which seems unlikely since he’s only committed to Paris Masters and ATP Finals; no points are given at Davis Cup where he’ll play Nadal’s farewell event.

Alcaraz has previously expressed concerns over tennis’ demanding schedule leading some fans speculating if he’d even consider adding more tournaments now just for ranking points…probably not! So while Alcaraz takes a breather till Paris Masters rolls around soon enough—his chase for No.1 spot is effectively over this season.

Do you think Jannik will keep up this momentum next year?

Aidan Schmidt
Aidan Schmidt
Aidan Schmidt is a senior writer at TennisViews.com. Aidan has been a sports reporter for more than five years and has a deep knowledge of the game and a sharp eye for detail. He pays special attention to live scores and the latest player news.

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