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• Eight titles, two grand slams and 70 match wins: Sinner's spectacular 2024

  As far as seasons go, you won't find many better than Jannik Sinner's 2024 campaign.

  The 23-year-old had long been assured of his place at the top of the ATP rankings heading into 2025, but to further cement his dominance of the men's circuit, Sinner dominated the ATP Finals in Turin last week.

  Sinner's 6-4 6-4 defeat of Taylor Fritz ensured he became the first ATP Finals champion since Ivan Lendl in 1986 to win the tournament without dropping a single set.

  He became the seventh player to win the event on home soil, and the first Italian champion, as he made it eight titles for the year, including the Australian Open and US Open.

  Here, we recap Sinner's brilliant year using Opta's treasure trove of data.

  Breakout major success

  It almost seems strange to think Sinner began 2024 without a grand slam title to his name. That soon changed at the Australian Open, though, as he defeated Daniil Medvedev in a classic, five-set final.

  Sinner did things the hard way at Melbourne Park, also overcoming Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals and Novak Djokovic in the last four. 

  At the age of 22 years and 165 days, he became the youngest player to ever achieve successive wins over ATP top-five opponents in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of a grand slam, surpassing Michael Stich, who did so at the age of 22 years and 262 days at Wimbledon 1991.

  That triumph also made him only the third Italian man to win a grand slam, after French Open champions Nicola Pietrangeli (1959 and 1960) and Adriano Panatta (1976).

  By beating Djokovic, Sinner became the first Italian to defeat the ATP's top-ranked player at a major, with Italians previously going 0-23 in such matches since the ATP Rankings were first published in 1973.

  Sinner would also record a final victory over Djokovic at the Shanghai Masters later in the year, becoming the first player on record to not face a single break point in back-to-back tour-level meetings with the Serbian.

   

  Slam consistency

  Of course, Sinner later followed up his Australian Open triumph by clinching the US Open crown, downing home favourite Fritz in the Flushing Meadows final.

  Those major wins were two of seven triumphs for Sinner at hard-court events this year, making him just the fifth player to win seven or more finals on the surface in a year, after Andre Agassi (1995), Pete Sampras (1996), Roger Federer (2004-06) and Djokovic (2015).

  But perhaps his remarkable consistency across all four grand slams is what stands out most.

  Sinner reached at least the quarter-finals at each of 2024's majors, losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open semi-finals and Medvedev in the last eight at Wimbledon.

  At 23 years and 17 days, he became the third-youngest man in the Open Era to reach the quarter-finals at all four slams in a single season, after Sampras in 1993 (22 years and 18 days) and Rafael Nadal in 2008 (22 years and 83 days).

  Sinner won 23 matches overall at grand slams this year, with no other player on the ATP Tour bringing up 20 (Alcaraz managed 19).

   

  Top of the world

  Following his defeat to Djokovic in the showpiece match at the 2023 ATP Finals, Sinner sat fourth in the ATP Rankings 12 months ago.

  He had already clinched top spot for 2024 as early as October 15, when he beat Djokovic in straight sets in the Shanghai Open final. 

  Since changes were made to the distribution of ranking points in 2009, only two players have ever sewn up top spot earlier – Djokovic in 2015 (September 14) and Nadal in 2010 (September 20).

  No Italian had previously topped the ATP Rankings, and few could deny Sinner was a deserving recipient of the accolade. His 70 match wins were the most of any player on the ATP Tour in 2024, while his 92.1% win rate is the best by any player since 2015, when Djokovic won 93.2% of his contests. 

   

  Sinner did not let the pressure of being number one affect him, either, going 37-3 since first taking top spot. His 92.5% win rate is the best by any male world number one by some distance, dwarfing Bjorn Borg's 80.4%.

  With Djokovic turning 38 next year, most would agree Sinner's breakout season has been good for men's tennis, teeing up what could be a long period of dominance by the Italian and his rival Alcaraz.

  His star should continue to rise in 2025.

• ATP Finals: Sinner 'surprised' himself with 2024 success

  Jannik Sinner says he has surprised himself in 2024 after capping off his incredible year with a maiden ATP Finals title on Sunday.

  Sinner beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Turin to claim his eighth title of the season and become the first Italian champion in the competition.

  He is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the campaign. 

  The 23-year-old, who had already confirmed his year-end number-one ranking in October, was delighted to finish the season on a high.

  "It's amazing, it's my first title in Italy, and it means so much to me," said Sinner. "It's something very special.

  "I just tried to understand what works best for each opponent, trying to play my best possible tennis. That was the key.

  "It was a very high-level tournament from my side. At times, I couldn't have played better, so I am very happy."

  Speaking to Sky Sports shortly after, he added: "Honestly, I have surprised myself the whole year at times, but in my mind, I know how much work I put in and how many sacrifices I have made to be in this position.

  "I just try to play in the present moment."

  Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, will go into 2025 as the world number four.

  The 27-year-old, who also lost to Sinner in the US Open showpiece, remained upbeat despite his defeat, revelling in his success over the past 12 months instead.

  "It's been a really good week for me. Obviously, it's a good way to end the year. It gives me a lot of confidence finishing the season like this," Fritz said.

  "Something I told my team in 2023 when I hit world number five for a week right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, was 'That's crazy, I'm five in the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me'.

  "Back then I was five, but I didn't feel like I was five. Now I'm ranked where I'm at. I feel like I belong.

  "It's a different feeling. It's been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That's a huge part of having the big results. The goal I set for myself at the start of the year was to finish top five."

• ATP Finals: Sinner completes sensational year with Turin triumph

  Jannik Sinner claimed his maiden ATP Finals title as the all-conquering world number one capped off a sensational season in style.

  Sinner defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 in Turin on Sunday, claiming his eighth title of 2024 in the process.

  It was a rematch of this year's US Open final, which Sinner also won, and the Italian made home advantage count in another dominant show of force befitting of his place at the top of the ATP rankings.

  Fritz, the first American to reach the final of the ATP Finals and the US Open in the same season since Andre Agassi in 1999, managed to force only one break point, and even that was clawed back by Sinner at the end of the first set.

  And Sinner's performance on serve was ultimately just too strong for Fritz, who was on the end of a wonderful drop-shot in the final game as his opponent delighted the crowd.

  A cross-court forehand went long from Fritz on the next point to decide the match, and complete Sinner's supreme season.

  Data Debrief: King of the hill

  Sinner is the seventh player in the Open Era to win the ATP Finals on home soil, and the first since Andy Murray in 2016, as he collected his Tour-leading 70th win of the season. He is the first Italian champion of this competition.

  The 23-year-old has also joined Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win the Australian Open, US Open and ATP Finals in the same year.

  Having fallen at the final hurdle against Djokovic last season, Sinner was in no mood for a repeat of that heartbreak. Indeed, he went through the entirety of this year's tournament without dropping a single set, making him the first player to win the ATP Finals without giving up a set since Ivan Lendl in 1986.

  Since the start of August, Sinner has won three of the four tournaments he has competed in, with his sole defeat coming to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the China Open.

  While 2024 will go down as Sinner's year, Fritz can at least take solace in a fine season of his own, and he will head into 2025 as the world number four.