Jannik Sinner played his first ATP tournament as a number one player, and became only the eighth player to win his first event as the world no. 1, joining a list of legendary players.
Becoming the world’s number one player is a legendary achievement in itself because not many players manage to reach the top spot in the rankings, which is one of the toughest achievements in tennis.
It requires a player to perform consistently over a long period of time to gain enough points to overtake everybody on the ranking and emerge on top.
Sinner was able to do so after this year’s Roland Garros when he managed to overtake Novak Djokovic as world number one. His first event as world number one was the Halle Open this week, and he went all the way, beating Hubert Hurkacz in two sets in the final to win the trophy.
That’s a rare achievement because only seven other players in history were able to win their first tournament as world number one player on the ATP Tour.
Sinner joined that list with this triumph, becoming the eighth player to do so. The first one to do so was Jimmy Connors in 1974. Bjorn Borg did it in 1979, Mats Wilander in 1988, Stefan Edberg in 1990, Pete Sampras in 1993, Novak Djokovic in 2011, and most recently Andy Murray in 2016.
That’s a special list of players, so Sinner’s inclusion only further proves what kind of player he is. This has been a tremendous year for him, as he not only won his maiden Grand Slam trophy but also became world number one.
Right now, he will be focusing his efforts on the upcoming Wimbledon Championships, starting on July 1st and running until July 14th, 2024, where he will be one of the top favorites.
