Sinner and Alcaraz, very close to achieving a historic feat with their rivalry

Diego Jiménez Rubio | 6 Sep 2024 | 16.15

Sinner and Alcaraz, historical rivalry. Photo: gettyimages

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They have not faced each other in any Grand Slam final, but there is no doubt that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have taken a step forward in their rivalry this season. The player from Murcia has won two out of the four majors of the year, and the Italian is close to doing the same. It is very rare in the Open Era to see two tennis players evenly split the Grand Slam titles in a season.

Two matchups between them this year, one of them in a Grand Slam, and two victories for Carlos Alcaraz. Many dream of seeing some more duels between them for the remainder of the season, but the truth is that their rivalry could set a historic milestone if Jannik Sinner manages to become champion at the US Open 2024. The Italian fervently pursues his second title of this level, both in his career and this year, which would allow him to achieve, alongside the Spaniard, a highly notable milestone in tennis history.

- There have been 12 seasons with two different Grand Slam winners, but only in two of them were they evenly distributed

Looking back and marking 1968 as the starting point for our analysis, the year the Open Era began, we find only 12 seasons in which two players have shared the four Grand Slam titles. However, 10 of them were structured with one player triumphing in three out of the four events, and the other winning only one. Examples include 1974 (Connors and Borg) and 1988 (Wilander and Edberg), the only years of the 20th century in which such a scenario occurred.

The rest of the cases belong to the 21st century and are closely related to the peak years of the Big 3. Thus, in 2004, 2006, and 2007, Federer won all the Grand Slam titles except Roland Garros, where Nadal triumphed, while the Spaniard returned the favor in 2010, winning on all stages except in Australia, where Roger triumphed.

In 2011 and 2015, Djokovic would secure three out of the four Grand Slam titles, leaving the remaining one to Nadal (Roland Garros 2011) and Wawrinka (Roland Garros 2015). The Serbian would dominate once again in 2021 and 2023, with only Medvedev and Alcaraz preventing him from taking all four major titles.

- Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, the only players involved in the historic feat that Sinner and Alcaraz can achieve this 2024

However, the scenario of interest is when two players evenly split the four Grand Slam titles, meaning each wins two. This has occurred only twice in the Open Era. The first was in 2017, that memorable season when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal thrilled the tennis world with the return of their great rivalry. The Swiss won in Australia and Wimbledon, while the Spaniard triumphed in Paris and New York. The other occasion was in 2019, with Rafa winning again at Roland Garros and the US Open, while this time Novak Djokovic took the titles in Melbourne and London.

Therefore, a victory by Jannik Sinner in this US Open 2024 would be the third time in the Open Era that two players evenly split the four most important titles on the tennis calendar. It would be a clear demonstration of the tremendous rivalry that lies ahead for years with the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz. Will this feat be accomplished?

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Sinner y Alcaraz, muy cerca de lograr una gesta histórica con su rivalidad