One of the toughest tests for a modern-day tennis player is to maintain excellence all year round. The season starts in early January and ends only in mid-November, traversing continents, different time zones and a multitude of playing surfaces. The first and the last Grand Slam tournaments themselves are separated by roughly eight months, making success in both — even though they are similar hard-court Majors — one of the most impressive feats. Since the turn of the millennium, only Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic (thrice each) and Angelique Kerber had managed to win at Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows in the same year. What Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka achieved in New York, of winning their maiden US Open singles titles to go with their Australian Open crowns from earlier in the season, is thus an ode to their fitness, consistency and all-round playing ability. For Sinner, the twin successes bookend a career-best year, the recent doping cloud he came under notwithstanding. He won the Masters 1000 trophies in Miami and Cincinnati, ATP 500s in Rotterdam and Halle, reached the semifinals at French Open, quarterfinals at Wimbledon and rose to No.1 in the world. Sabalenka, World No.2, has been just as prolific, winning Cincinnati, reaching the final at Madrid and Rome, and making the quarters at Roland-Garros.
While their triumphs will no doubt embellish their respective careers, the accomplishments will, in all probability, shape the future of tennis. Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have now split 2024’s four Slams, and for the first time since 2002, there is no winner from the legendary trio of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic. Their ascent has also come at a time when tennis needed variety. Sinner’s clinically efficient and workman-like game, and Alcaraz’s all-court dazzle and razzmatazz make the upper echelons of men’s tennis an eclectic place instead of the one-dimensional hub it was threatening to turn into with the rise of players like Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev. Meanwhile, Sabalenka’s victory has made 2024 the first year since 2014 without a first-time women’s singles champion at the Majors, a clear sign that the WTA Tour has finally settled down. Like Sinner-Alcaraz, there is the Sabalenka-Iga Swiatek duopoly, with the pair having secured seven of the past 11 Slams. While Sabalenka — also the Australian Open winner and US Open runner-up in 2023 — has been consistent, with seven semifinal or better finishes at her last eight Majors, Swiatek is a five-time Slam champion and the No.1 from April 2022 for all but eight weeks. All of which proves that tennis’ brand-new era is well and truly here.
Published - September 11, 2024 12:10 am IST
