The term \u201cWinner Winner, Chicken Dinner!\u201d is used to denote a significant success (one deserving of the titular meal), often in a sporting context. It might not be globally recognised yet, but it is certainly widely known in most Anglophone countries, including Australia. However, it may be time to replace it with \u201cJannik Sinner, Serial Winner!\u201d, because that is what the World No.1 in men\u2019s tennis has become.<\/p>\n
As is so often the case with Sinner, one of the most beautifully balanced tennis players ever (and there will be more on that later), there was a certain symmetry to his retaining his Australian Open title in Melbourne by defeating Alexander Zverev in the final in straight sets. That is because Melbourne was where he began his spectacular \u2013 indeed, almost hypersonic \u2013 ascent to the top of the men\u2019s game by winning his first Major at the start of 2024.<\/p>\n
So consistently superb has Sinner been since then that it is easy to forget that it is only a year since he first won a Slam and scaled the world rankings. He has now won three Majors in total (all three on hardcourt, making him the undoubted ruler of the most ubiquitous surface in tennis), become the first truly dominant World No.1 of the post-Big Three era and effectively set himself apart from the rest of the ATP Tour. And yes, that includes Carlos Alcaraz, who, for all his Major-winning brilliance (he still leads Sinner by four Major Singles titles to three), is yet to play a full season on tour, let alone one as historic as Sinner\u2019s 2024, in which the Italian won 73 matches and lost only six.<\/p>\n