Sinner and Alcaraz mark a rare youth dominance at the Grand Slams in 2024 | ATP Tour

US Open

Sinner and Alcaraz mark a rare youth dominance at the Grand Slams in 2024

It’s been more than 30 years since a similar streak of young players

September 08, 2024

For years, tennis fans watched in awe as the “BIG 3” – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – dominated the sport without parallel. Between Federer’s triumph at Wimbledon in 2003 and Djokovic’s latest win at the 2023 US Open, they have amassed 66 titles across 81 Grand Slam tournaments.

The constant question in the sport has been when the reign of these titans would end. Has it already come?

Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, retired in 2022, the same season Nadal won his 14th Roland Garros crown, his last major title. Although the 38-year-old Spaniard is still competing, injuries have hampered him considerably, and he has played in just seven tournaments this season, including one Grand Slam.

And then there is Djokovic, who has won three of the four majors in 2023, claimed gold at this year’s Paris Olympics and remains in the Top 5 of the PIF ATP Rankings at 37. But the 24-time major champion suffered a shock third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin in New York, ensuring the Serb will end the season without a Grand Slam trophy for the first time since 2017.

With 23-year-old Jannik Sinner claiming his second Slam title at Flushing Meadows, this season marks only the third time – and the first since 1993 – that all four majors have been won by players aged 23 or younger (Open Era).

The Italian, who with this title reinforces his status as world No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, and Carlos Alcaraz are equally sharing the 2024 majors. Will this tug-of-war battle be the next chapter in their exciting Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry?

1993: The last time all four majors were won by players under 23

*1974 was the first time that all four majors were won by players under 23

En route to his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open, Sinner stunned ten-time champion Djokovic in the semi-finals and overcame a two-sets-nil deficit in the title match against Daniil Medvedev.

By winning the US Open, Sinner becomes the first player since Guillermo Vilas in 1977 to add to his first Major title with a second in the same season.

Alcaraz, 21, won the other two majors of the season, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, becoming the youngest player to win a Grand Slam trophy on all three surfaces: clay, hard court and grass.

The World No. 3 successfully defended his Wimbledon title by defeating seven-time champion Djokovic in the final for the second year in a row, although this year’s victory was in straight sets, compared to the dramatic five-setter in 2023.

[ALSO LIKE]

Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, became the sixth man in the Open Era to win the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year, joining Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Federer and Djokovic on that elite list.

This year could mark a seismic shift in the changing of the guard at the top of men’s tennis. Sinner and Alcaraz are two generational talents who have planted themselves firmly in the record books.

Did you know…?
Sinner and Alcaraz were both champions at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, when they were crowned at 18 years old (Sinner in 2019, Alcaraz in 2021).