With more than a year after the new king ascended the throne, can Deyo's world No. 1 428 week legend be surpassed by Sinner?

On June 10, 2024, Italian superstar Sinner ascended to the throne of world No. 1 in men's tennis. A year has passed, and although he has been banned for three months due to the drug ban in the middle, it has not shaken the status of the Italian, and he has now stayed in the No. 1 position in the world for 53 consecutive weeks. The fact that he has been on the top of the world for more than 52 weeks for his first time in the world has been a feat in tennis history only by Connors, Federer, Hewitt and Djokovic has now joined the ranks shows how strong and consistent the Italian is.

The past two years have been a choreographed inspirational epic. He has a breakout in 2023: at the beginning of the year he won his seventh career tour title in Montpellier; In March, he defeated Alcaraz in the semi-finals of the Miami Masters, the first time the Italian won over the world number one in his career; reached the semi-finals of the clay Masters for the first time in Monte Carlo in April; reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon in July; Won the Masters for the first time in the Rogers Cup in August; In the final of the Beijing China Open in October, he finally defeated his opponent for the first time after seven encounters with Medvedev, and entered the TOP5 for the first time in his career with the championship, rising to fourth; In the same month, he won the 10th title of his career tour in Vienna, and in November, he defeated Djokovic in the group stage of the year-end finals for the first time to reach the final, but unfortunately Djokovic lost in the final. However, in the following Davis Cup semifinals between Italy and Serbia, Sinner defeated the king Deyo in three sets, ending the 21-game singles winning streak of the Djokovic Davis Cup, and finally led the Italian team to defeat Australia in the final, winning the Davis Cup for the first time in 47 years, and ending the incredible 2023 season with a record of 64-15 and a year-end ranking of No. 4.

In 2024, Sinner will continue the strong momentum that began with the previous year's netting and begin a complete transformation. The Italians won eight titles throughout the year, including two Grand Slam titles (Australian Open, US Open), one year-end finals, three ATP1000 Masters titles (Miami, Cincinnati, Shanghai) and two ATP 500 titles (Rotterdam, Halle). In 2024, Sinner played 82 games and won 76 of them. Sinner has reached the final of almost every tournament he has participated in, and he has won almost all of the tournaments he has participated in, as long as he does not face Alcaraz in the final. Such strength and formidable consistency are comparable to Djokovic at his peak. It was only natural that he became the first player in the history of Italian tennis to become the first player in the history of Italian tennis on June 10, 2024, on June 10, 2024.

Sinner's continued dominance in tennis is due to three core competencies:

1. Technical comprehensiveness: The straight backhand is a "killer feature", the stability of the serve and forehand has been greatly improved, and the winning rate of both clay and hard court is over 85%.

2. Psychological transformation: Sinner is now like a robot on the field, nothing on or off the field can interfere with him, and he has a strong concentration on the field.

3. Team support: After the drug ban incident, Sinner adjusted his team, poached several members of Djokovic's original team, and after targeted training, the Italian became physically stronger and the injury rate was much lower than that of his peers. Sinner played an important role in the five-set battle against physical powerman Alcaraz in the five-set final of this year's French Open.

In addition, the opportunities of the times cannot be ignored: Nadal's retirement, Djokovic is fading out, Alcaraz's form has fluctuated at times, Medvedev is in a bottleneck, and Zverev is struggling in the tournament, all of which will make Sinner the top of the ball for some time to come.

Djokovic's 428-week world No. 1 record has been hailed as "the strongest fortress in tennis", so is it possible for Sinner to force this fortress? Judging by Sinner's current form, it's not impossible.

First of all, in terms of age, Djokovic first rose to the world No. 1 throne on July 4, 2011, when Djokovic was 24 years old. Sinner, on the other hand, is not yet 24 years old and has been in the world No. 1 position for 53 weeks. Now with advanced technology, the player's career is getting longer and longer, as long as the annual schedule is reasonably distributed and the body is healthy, then Sinner will have a longer career than Deyo, and have time to slowly conquer the strong fortress of Deyo 428 weeks.

Most of the 100 titles in his career so far have come in major tournaments, and these high-scoring titles have underpinned the stability of his rankings. Therefore, Sinner will need to plan his schedule for the long career ahead, minimize his participation in small tournaments, and recharge his energy to ensure that he has a stable performance in the Grand Slam, Masters and year-end finals。 Of course, the most important thing is that Sinner must maintain such a comprehensive and stable technical and tactical level for more than ten years, which is not an easy task.Tennis is extremely unpredictable – injuries, new stars, rule changes, and emergencies can all change the script. The shutdown of tennis due to the pandemic, the interruption of Djokovic's world No. 1 ranking, and the lack of points for winning Wimbledon all affected the number of weeks Djokovic's world No. 1 ranking.

All in all, Sinner's 53 weeks were just the starting point. At the crossroads of men's tennis, he is writing his own chapter with calmness and ambition. The 428-week journey is like climbing Mount Everest, but as he said after his victory over Djokovic at the Australian Open: "I believe every step counts. The future of tennis may lie in the red-haired king's persistence. (Source: Tennis Home Author: Mei)