With every sunset, there is a sunrise. The 24 Grand Slam titles holder, Novak Djokovic is now in his late thirties. Even though there were several promising stars this year, he outclassed them all grabbing 7 titles including 3 Grand Slam titles and the ATP Finals. But one question continues to torment his fans- how long? This question then gives rise to who’s next? One can think about world no. 2, Carlos Alcaraz. However, Simon Rea has a different pick for the 2024 season.

The 41-year-old former tennis player picks Jannik Sinner as the one to outshine both of them next year. And why not? The 2023 season was a breakthrough season for the 22-year-old Italian. He has announced his arrival on the biggest stage in style with his heroics in crucial matches. Let’s find out what Rea has to say.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz first met each other at the Madrid Open in 2022. Now, their rivalry has reached its peak. Fans witnessed an intense fight between them to earn the year-end top spot in the men’s singles ranking. Novak Djokovic leads the H2H by a 3-2 margin over the Spaniard. While most of the players find it difficult to outclass the Serb, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner managed to defeat him twice in their careers.

Here’s what Simon Rea said via ‘The AO Show Weekly’ podcast on Spotify, “we’ve probably seen the emergence of Alcaraz. And we’ve seen the proof if you like, in terms of the emerging rivalry or not the emerging rivalry, the rivalry that already exists, it’s there. It’s in front of us right now between Alcatraz and Djokovic.” He then continued to talk about his prediction based on the data, he said, “What I’m taking out of the data anyway, is that there’s another one in the mix there.”

Revealing the name, Rea said, “And I think we’ve just seen it over the last fortnight that he’s really announced himself as having arrived, albeit in favorable conditions, and I think it’s Jannik Sinner.” Giving reason for his choice, he added, “The reason I say that is when you look at some of these key statistical categories. So for example, second set of points one over the course of 2023, the top three players on tour Djokovic, Sinner and Alcaraz. How about return on second serve? So from a returning perspective, Sinner actually got the great Djokovic covered.”

Continuing with his statistical interpretation, Rea said, “Sinner and Alcaraz are both in front of Djokovic. Numbers one, three and four on tour in terms of percentage of second serve return points won and on we go. Deciding sets own across the two of you think that not Novak’s exceptional at 72% of deciding sets won? Sinner has got them covered at 77% of deciding sets.”

Jannik Sinner’s major stride at the bigger stages this year earned him a place among the nominations for a few prestigious awards. Let’s have a look at Sinner’s remarkable journey.

Wrapping up Jannik Sinner’s stellar run in the 2023 season with his heroics against Novak Djokovic
Jannik Sinner managed to clinch victory twice in a single day against Djokovic at the Davis Cup a few days ago. He had played a pivotal role in steering Italy to their second Davis Cup after a long gap of 47 years. He bagged 4 titles this season with a career-best ranking of number 4.
Sinner’s astonishing achievements this season have helped him book a place in the nominations for the Most Improved Player of the 2023 ATP Season. The 22YO has also received a nomination for the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award. Sinner has repeatedly proved that he’s worth the hype surrounding him recently. Who is your pick for the 2024 season?