{"id":76788,"date":"2024-12-21T05:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=76788"},"modified":"2024-12-20T18:59:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T23:59:56","slug":"alexander-zverev-jannik-sinner-best-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/21\/alexander-zverev-jannik-sinner-best-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander Zverev picks Jannik Sinner as the ‘Best Player in the World’ ahead of Carlos Alcaraz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alexander Zverev has declared Jannik Sinner the \u201cbest player in the world,\u201d choosing the Italian over Spain\u2019s Carlos Alcaraz in a bold statement that underscores Sinner\u2019s stellar 2024 season. Despite Alcaraz’s accomplishments, Zverev\u2019s argument is rooted in Sinner\u2019s consistency.. The German star\u2019s assessment comes after a season where Sinner and Alcaraz emerged as the leading forces in men\u2019s tennis, each clinching two Grand Slam titles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alcaraz won in their showdowns at Indian Wells, Roland Garros, and the China Open. He also made history by achieving the coveted ‘Channel Slam’ with back-to-back triumphs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Yet Sinner finished the year as world #1, with an impressive 73-6 win-loss record and eight titles compared to Alcaraz’s four. Zverev occupies the second spot in the rankings after a year that included a Roland Garros final and Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Bercy.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>Tennis Magazine<\/span><\/a>, Zverev\u2019s admiration for Sinner stems from their long-standing acquaintance. \u201cI\u2019ve known him [Sinner] since he was 16 or 17 years old,\u201d Zverev shared, recalling their early training sessions near Monte Carlo under coach Riccardo Piatti. \u201cWhenever it rained, we went there because there was a hall. So I\u2019ve known him since he was a young boy at the academy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlighting Sinner\u2019s achievements, Zverev added, \u201cIn terms of tennis, he absolutely deserves to be number one in the world. He has won two Grand Slam titles, three Masters titles, and the ATP Finals. He is the best player in the world; he has won the most titles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite favouring Sinner, Zverev also spoke fondly of Alcaraz. \u201cCarlos is someone I really get on well with. We\u2019ve had some special moments together, playing the biggest matches against each other on the court and spending a bit more time together off the court. That\u2019s what has developed. Every time we play, it\u2019s been a very high level with a lot of entertainment to watch, and it\u2019s just fun to be on the court with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Zverev endorsed Sinner as the year\u2019s top player, Alcaraz\u2019s 2024 was extraordinary. The Spaniard\u2019s head-to-head record against Zverev this season ended evenly at 2-2, with Alcaraz triumphing at Roland Garros and Indian Wells but falling to Zverev at the Australian Open and the ATP Finals. Notably, the pair also teamed up for doubles at the Laver Cup, showcasing a growing camaraderie.<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, Zverev only faced Sinner once in 2024, losing in a tightly contested Cincinnati Open semi-final. Their head-to-head record now stands at 4-2 in Sinner\u2019s favor. Meanwhile, Alcaraz\u2019s record against Sinner leans heavily in the Spaniard\u2019s direction, with a 6-4 advantage, including victories in their last three encounters. However, Sinner\u2019s year-end ranking and consistency throughout the season tipped the scales in his favor for Zverev.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexander Zverev has declared Jannik Sinner the \u201cbest player in the world,\u201d choosing the Italian over Spain\u2019s Carlos Alcaraz in a bold statement that underscores Sinner\u2019s stellar 2024 season. Despite Alcaraz’s accomplishments, Zverev\u2019s argument is rooted in Sinner\u2019s consistency.. The German star\u2019s assessment comes after a season where Sinner and Alcaraz emerged as the leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5286,"featured_media":61374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,5729,5862],"class_list":["post-76788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-jannik-sinner"],"modified_by":"Jim Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76801,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76788\/revisions\/76801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}