Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz played out arguably the best match of the ATP tennis year last month whilst battling it out in an epic contest at the US Open.
The quarter-final will live long in the memory thanks to the epic, lung-busting rallies and spellbinding shotmaking, with it becoming the New York’s latest ever finish at 2.50am.
History will tell tennis fans that Alcaraz would save a match point in the fourth set and come from a break down in the decider to go on and win the match, the tournament and subsequently become the youngest World No.1 in ATP Rankings history (since 1973).
For Sinner, it was a cruel end to his Grand Slam year but gave a silver lining of hope that he would be playing at the top table of tennis for years to come.
But should the World No.12 from Italy look back on 2022 with disappointment rather than encouragement?
Despite reaching the last eight at three of the Slams, (Australia, Wimbledon and New York) on reflection, he has had a torrid year.
Saturday’s withdrawal during a semi-final clash against Holger Rune in Sofia was just another example of Sinner’s journey in a tournament cut short not just because of his opponent's better tennis.
It was the sixth time this year the 21-year-old has had to either retire or withdraw from a match.
Early ends
At the start of 2022, Sinner was hit with a mix of flu and then a positive Covid test, resulting in him missing AMRO Open in Rotterdam.
That was followed by a withdrawal in March at Indian Wells due to illness, sending Nick Kyrgios into the semi-finals.
Blisters in Miami a week later meant he retired in his quarter-final Match against Francisco Cerundolo. Both these events are Masters 1000 events, tournaments rich with much-desired rankings points for the ATP finals in Turin.
In Rome, a hip injury saw Sinner put in a hapless performance when losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas and he was forced to end the match early once again when facing Andrey Rublev at Roland Garros.
The luckless Italian currently sits 12th in the Turin race with 2310 points but with his withdrawal from this weeks Astana Open in Kazakhstan means he’ll need a big week if involved at the Paris Masters to have any hope of making that illustrious final eight of the year.
A key aspect of the dominance of the ‘Big Three’ over the last near two decades is their ability to get their bodies in to tournament ready shape, week after week, year after year. If Sinner is to become the champion many think he has the talent to become, his body needs to start getting with the programme.
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