In mid-September, just two weeks after Jannik Sinner won the US Open to secure a 2-2 win-loss record with Carlos Alcaraz for the 2024 major championships, Alcaraz said his rivalry with Sinner would ultimately duplicate Roger’s. I was asked what I thought. Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“Well, a lot of people talk about that.” Alcaraz said during the Laver Cup in Berlin. “I like hearing it. I’m not going to lie. I hope our rivalry is the same or close to what the Big 3 had during their careers. This is the first year we have shared all the Grand Slams. Hopefully, we will continue to share great moments and fight for a great tournament.”
World No. 1 Sinner and No. 3 Alcaraz participated three times this year, including Indian Wells, the French Open semifinals, and the Beijing final in September, and Alcaraz won all three matches. They could meet again in the ATP Finals, which begins Sunday in Turin, Italy. The two have yet to face each other in the ATP Finals.
Sinner and Alcaraz will be joined in Turin by Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Alex de Minaur and Andrey Rublev.
Zverev, who finished runner-up to Alcaraz at this year’s French Open, won the ATP Finals twice in 2018 and 2021. Medvedev, who reached the final of the Australian Open last January but lost to Sinner, won the 2020 ATP Finals. In 2021, he took second place behind Zverev.
It is the first time in 23 years that Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will not compete in the eight-man year-end championship. Federer, who won the title six times between 2003 and 2011, retired in 2022, and Nadal, who is retiring after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup final in Malaga later this month, has not played in enough tournaments to qualify this year.
Djokovic, who defeated Sinner at the Shanghai Open last month to advance to the final as runner-up, also decided not to participate. Djokovic, who recently withdrew from the Paris Masters, posted a photo of himself vacationing in the Maldives on his Instagram.
Djokovic, who has won seven titles including his 10th Australian Open, French Open and 24th major US Open in 2023, fell one match behind at the Grand Slam when he lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. Just 11 tournaments.
Djokovic, 37, who has won the ATP Finals seven times, defeated Sinner last year and Casper Ruud in 2022. However, Djokovic has played only seven matches since the US Open last September and is not scheduled to play again this year. He said he planned to travel to Malaga to watch Nadal’s departure.
This is the first time in over 20 years that none of the so-called Big Three have won Wimbledon or the Australian, French or US Open, and the world of tennis is finally embracing this change. Even Andy Murray retired earlier this season.
“I think we’ve been discussing this for years, answering the question of what happened to the big three,” said Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won the 2019 ATP Finals but was just eliminated in the qualifiers this year. “These things keep changing all the time,” he said in a September interview. Currently, it is Carlos and Jannik who have inflicted the most damage and have won the most titles. So it’s also up to us to defend our sport and win the title.”
This year, Sinner won the Australian Open and US Open, while Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon. Sinner beat Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open and Alcaraz beat him in the final of Wimbledon. Djokovic then beat Alcaraz to win gold at the Paris Olympics, a title he said he coveted more than any other.
Medvedev knows that no tournament or tour can rely entirely on past stars. Even if they are among the greatest players of all time.
“There are eight players who have the most points on the season, so it would still be an incredibly strong eight,” Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, said in September. “It’s the only tournament where the first match is against a top 10 player, so the feeling will be the same and the best player will win.”
Sinner and Alcaraz may be the main attraction in Turin, but Sinner had to withdraw from the Paris Masters due to the virus after beating Djokovic in Shanghai. Alcaraz, who defeated Medvedev and Sinner to win the Beijing Open last month, lost to No. 33 Thomas Machak in the quarterfinals of Shanghai and to No. 18 Hugo Humbert in the round of 16 of the Paris Masters.
Fritz, who advanced to the US Open final but lost to Sinner, will participate in the ATP Finals for the second time in three years. In 2022, he defeated Nadal and advanced to the semifinals, but lost to Djokovic.
“My goal has been to be in the top eight every year from 2022 and reach the ATP Finals,” Fritz said in a September interview. “I am someone who plays better when I play with better players. It’s nice to be able to go in right away. I love playing against the best players and I play better tennis when I’m in those situations.”
Sinner, Alcaraz, Zverev, Medvedev and Fritz made it to the early qualifiers for the finals, but were able to secure their final spot until the very end. At the Paris Masters, Alcaraz, Fritz, Ruud and Rublev all lost early. Sinner’s withdrawal led to a scramble for the coveted points awarded at the event.
Ruud, ranked No. 2 in the world in 2022, reached the ATP finals thanks to his performance on clay this year in the same year that he reached the French Open and US Open finals. He won the tournaments in Geneva and Barcelona, was runner-up in the Monte Carlo tournament and reached the semifinals of the French Open, beating Zverev. He knows indoor hard courts aren’t necessarily his forte.
“Historically, indoors has not been where I have had my best results,” said Ruud, who finished runner-up to Djokovic in Turin in 2022. “But here we were in the final and semi-finals, so we were somehow able to save our best for last.”
In the end, the ATP Finals could belong to Sinner and Alcaraz, two of the most prolific performers of the year. Just like with Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, there is mutual respect between them.
“He pushed me to be better,” Sinner told ATP Media last month. “I wake up in the morning and try to figure out how to beat him.”
“We are different.” Sinner added. “He’s the guy who brings the firepower and the hot shots and gets the crowd involved,” he said, adding that he’s like “fire and ice.”
Alcaraz enjoys competing with Sinner.
“We’ll see what the future holds,” Alcaraz said. “I hope I have him on tour for a long time because he pushes me to be a better player every day. He forced me to practice 100% to beat him in the next match. So it’s great to have the big competition that the big three have had in their careers.”
