Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner: Who is likely to finish 2024 with more Grand Slam titles?
Jannik Sinner, who had shown remarkable improvement last year, finally broke his Grand Slam jinx by winning the Australian Open title this year. The 22-year-old Italian has also beaten the peerless Novak Djokovic thrice in their last four matches, thus exhibiting his ability to go toe-to-toe with perhaps the greatest player in history.
However, Carlos Alcaraz — Sinner’s contemporary and great rival — still continues to be a couple of places above the Italian in the ATP rankings. The Spaniard, ranked No. 2 in the world, also has one more Grand Slam title in his cabinet as compared to the Italian.
Carlos Alcaraz lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He keeps making it to the latter stages of a tournament but has not exhibited his best form since winning the Wimbledon title last year.
Hence, the momentum is firmly with the Italian at the moment, but let us now take a look at their chances at the remaining three slams in the year:
Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner – Grand Slam race in 2024:French Open (Alcaraz):
It is still not clear whether Rafael Nadal will play this year at Roland Garros. If he is even close to being fully fit, the veteran Spaniard will be one of the heavy favorites to win the French Open. However, he might find it difficult to play there this time around.
Djokovic won the title there last year, but it remains to be seen if Nadal’s 37-year-old body can take the grind of clay for one more time. Hence, there is a clear opportunity for Carlos Alcaraz to make his mark this time in Paris and win his first slam on clay. In comparison, Jannik Sinner’s more powerful serve and groundstrokes will be less of a weapon on clay.
Alcaraz also has better drop shots and volleys, which makes his chances even brighter on the red dirt of Paris. He also has the legs to endure the toil of playing long matches on clay. Alcaraz, therefore, can get even with Sinner in Paris by winning his first slam of the year.
Wimbledon (Neither):
Alcaraz will be the defending champion at Wimbledon this year and might win the title once again. However, Djokovic will still be the favorite to win his eighth title at the All England Club. Sinner, on the other hand, does not boast a good record on grass.
It is something of an enigma, as the Italian’s serve should be earning him a lot of easy points on grass. Alcaraz’s serve is less powerful and hence, he usually has to work harder for his points. This leaves him with less of a chance to win the Slam, his heroics at Wimbledon last year notwithstanding.
Djokovic, therefore, might still be good enough to win another Wimbledon title, which means that neither Alcaraz nor Sinner are likely to add to their Slams tally there.
US Open (Sinner):
Sinner’s brightest chances of winning another slam this year will be on the hard courts in New York. There will be others like Djokovic, Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev, but if the World No. 4 is able to maintain his current form, he might win his second overall Grand Slam there.
Alcaraz, who lost to Medvedev in the US Open semifinal last year, will be in with a chance on the higher-bouncing surface there. However, as mentioned above, unless the Spaniard’s serve improves to an extent, there will always be a chance of him suffering against another top player.
Hence, Sinner might find himself in a good position to win his second overall slam in New York, provided he can tackle Djokovic yet again.
Our take: Sinner might lead the slam race 2-1 against Alcaraz by the end of the year.
