The victory at the Australian Open 2024 did not allow Jannik Sinner to move from the No.4 spot of the ATP ranking. In the coming months, however, the Italian will have a great chance to attack the Top-3 of the men's world rankings.
Novak Djokovic occupies the throne of the ATP ranking, but Jannik has a great chance of being able to take over the Serb, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, currently in the 2nd and 3rd spot of the ATP ranking.
Taking the 2023 situation as an example, from this period at Wimbledon, Sinner has to defend less than half of Alcaraz's points and around 2000 points less than Medvedev, with the Spaniard and the Russian having won several tournaments last year, while Jannik still had to explode.
Specifically, Sinner has to defend 2950 points until Wimbledon and is faced with a great opportunity that could lead him to soon become the Italian tennis player with the best ranking ever.
Carlitos will have to defend the titles (and points) obtained in 2024 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen's and Wimbledon. Medvedev will instead have Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Rome. Above all, Djokovic has the victory at Roland Garros.
It seems clear that Sinner has great chances of being able to attack the Top-3 of the ATP ranking and become the Italian tennis player with the highest ranking ever by the summer.
Flavia Pennetta praises Jannik
Flavia Pennetta, the last Italian tennis player to win a Slam before Sinner, commented on Jannik's victory in Australia, analyzing the state of Italian tennis.
The former winner of the US Open 2015 said she attended the Australian Open final, reliving old emotions.
"As a spectator it was wonderful, I enjoyed it, commenting on it with Fabio Fognini (her husband) and Francesca Schiavone. Humanly, this stirred the memories of what I experienced in New York in 2015. Seeing him on the ground at the end of the match breathing a sigh of relief made me relive those moments, and it was very nice because that victory repays you for all the sacrifices," she told
Pennetta then described her young countryman's dael personality.
"Italian tennis is undoubtedly going through one of the most beautiful moments in its history, let's say that we cannot deny the fact that Jannik is achieving these results, stirs interest, desire, desire and passion on the part of everyone for this sport, which in any case in recent years it has always given us so many successes for both men and women and we can only be happy about it.
Then I believe that today's young generation has little desire to sacrifice itself, that's my point of view. Jannik on the other hand is different, his example motivates everyone, both those who play sports and those who study. In general he is a beautiful example of life," explained Pennetta.
On the importance of Jannik Sinner's rise for the Italian tennis movement, Pennetta analyzed: "Undoubtedly now everyone expects him to do better and better, then there will be the moment when everything will be fine and nothing will be enough anymore.
Djokovic, number one for many years, confided to me one day, when he had reached 17 Grand Slam wins, that whatever he did was no longer enough for anyone. And he also told me: I now know what I'm worth, I'm aware of what I've done and I live peacefully for this.
For the others, however, if I lose the first round I'm a disaster, and if I win it's normal. Well, I personally wish all this to Jannik, it would mean that he has won everything, I believe he has an innate gift in this, because he lets everything slide over him, manages to live things peacefully and is managing the moment very well."
Andrea Vavassori also recently commented on Jannik Sinner's great feat at the Australian Open.
"Jannik has always been a humble and simple person. It's a pleasure to spend time with him. He is a source of inspiration not only for young people, but for everyone. He always says interesting things, those are the things that sports idols say.
He was good at choosing a team made up of people who help him on a daily basis. Jannik is a boy like many others, he made me laugh a lot because when he went on stage to talk to Italian President Mattarella, there was a little sketch and it felt like being at school. This is to explain the simplicity that unites us," told Vavassori.
The 28-year-old then talked about his experience at the Australian Open in doubles with Simone Bolelli: "We started playing together last season, we knew we were a very competitive couple and Simone came from a period during which he played with Fabio, but not being able more playing together, we took the opportunity to be able to be as a couple.
From then on we reached two finals. Thinking of immediately reaching a Slam final as the first tournament was something unexpected, also because we hadn't played since the US Open, so a few months. The first round was very complicated, then it was a crescendo. This result offers us many possibilities."