Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's consistency questioned by Jim Courier despite duo winning 2 Grand Slams each in 2024
Former World No. 1 Jim Courier said that he had his reservations about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner maintaining their consistency. Both players had impressive 2024 seasons, winning two Grand Slams each. Sinner won the Australian Open and the US Open while Alcaraz triumphed at the French Open before successfully defending his title at Wimbledon.
The Italian has had an extraordinary season so far, that has seen him win 68 out of 74 matches, with seven titles to his name. Sinner's exploits have seen him reach the top of the ATP rankings and he will finish 2024 as the World No. 1. Carlos Alcaraz has won 53 out of 66 matches so far this season, winning four titles.
Jim Courier spoke about both youngsters while appearing on the Tennis Channel's Inside-In podcast. The American spoke about Alcaraz and Sinner dominating the Grand Slams at a time when people thought that the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev would win.
"There is no doubt that there is a group of players like Medvedev and like Tsitsipas, and Rublev, and those guys are 27, 28 years old. We were hoping that this was going to be their time, when the floodgates would open for them, and then all of a sudden, you've got Sinner and Alcaraz put up a dam and say, 'Hold on one second, we're not going to let you in just yet," Courier said.
The former World No. 1 also said that he wasn't sure that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner would maintain that consistency for too long, stating
"But, I don't know that we will see quite the same consistency out of that duo. We might, we certainly did this year at the Majors, but if there is three of them, or even four of them that can really pop up there consistently, it becomes much tougher but if it's just two, you might get an injury, you might get an upset, you might get an opportunity."
Carlos Alcaraz out of ATP Finals 2024, Jannik Sinner reaches SF without dropping a set
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are both competing in the ATP Finals in Turin, and both players have endured contrasting fates at the tournament. While Sinner is through to the semifinals, Alcaraz has been eliminated.
The Spaniard entered the season-ending championships as the third seed and started with a 1-6, 5-7 loss to sixth seed Casper Ruud. He followed this up by beating eighth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6(8) to keep his semifinal hopes alive. However, Alcaraz lost 6-7(5), 4-6 to second seed Alexander Zverev in his final round-robin fixture and was thus eliminated.
Top seed Jannik Sinner on the other hand, started his campaign in Turin with a 6-3, 6-4 win over seventh seed Alex de Minaur. The Italian then triumphed 6-4, 6-4 over Taylor Fritz before facing fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in his final round-robin fixture.
Sinner defeated the Russian 6-3, 6-4 to win his group and confirm his place in the semifinals. Here, he will take on Casper Ruud, with the winner facing either Alexander Zverev or Taylor Fritz in the title clash of the ATP Finals.