Q3 In Review: Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic Alexei Popyrin set the marks | ATP Tour

Story of the Season

Q3 review: Imoni, Djokovic, Popyrin set markers

Popyrin, Sinner also won at the ATP Masters 1000s

September 11, 2024

In the summer of transition from the clay courts of Europe to the hard courts of North America, the third quarter of the ATP Tour season was filled with new records and a wave of first champions.

Jannik Sinner’s dominance continued as he won his second Grand Slam title at the US Open, while World No. 1 also won his third ATP Masters 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open. Novak Djokovic won his first long-awaited gold medal at the Paris Olympics. At the beginning of August, Alexei Popyrin became the first ATP Masters 1000 winner by winning the Montreal crown.

ATPtour.com shows the champions from the third quarter of 2024.

Jannik Sinner: US Open and Cincinnati
The Australian Open champion and World No. 1 strengthened his position at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings with wins at the US Open and the Cincinnati Open. Enjoying his best season on Tour, Sinner defeated American Taylor Fritz in the final of the US Open to become the first Italian to win a major. With the title in New York, he also became the youngest player to win both Grand Slam singles titles in one season.

“I’ve had a lot of big wins this season, starting with Australia,” said Sinner after winning the US Open. “Playing well there gave me confidence. The work never ends. I know I can still improve as we saw today, a few things. But you have to be proud of what you have and what you have to work on. . I can’t wait for my ongoing process.”

In early August, Sinner also won the Cincinnati Open, defeating home favorite Frances Tiafoe in the final. With his win, he became the only player to win two ATP Masters 1000 titles so far in 2024.

The Italian, who missed the Olympics due to tonsillitis, qualified for November’s Nitto ATP Finals when he reached the quarter-finals in Montreal. The 23-year-old has won six major Tour titles this season, with his crowns coming at the Australian Open, Rotterdam, Miami, Halle and Cincinnati, and the US Open.

Jannik Sinner”>

Jannik Sinner lifted the US Open title. Photo Credit: Kena Bentacur/AFP via Getty Images

Novak Djokovic: Paris Olympics
Djokovic withdrew from the Roland Garros quarter-finals due to a right knee injury and underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in early June. Two months later, Philippe-Chatrier returned to Court and fulfilled his quest for a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, without dropping a set.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion beat Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who won his first Olympic medal (silver) in the final. Djokovic became the first player to win Olympic singles gold, all four majors, and all nine Masters 1000 events. He also became the third man alongside Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal to complete a career Golden Slam.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock, honestly. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at the age of 37. I finally did it,” he said.

Novak Djokovic celebrates the moment he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.”>

Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning gold at the Paris Olympics. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Alexei Popyrin: Montreal
Popyrin’s triumphant title run at the Omnium Banque National presented par Rogers in Montreal was one of the surprising headlines of the season so far. The Aussie upset five Top 20 players (including three Top 10 players) to win his first Masters 1000 title. He beat World No.13 Ben Shelton in the second round and saved three match points to upset the -No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. He then defeated No. 6 Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals, No. 16 Sebastian Korda in the semifinals, and No. 5 Andrey Rublev in the final.

Coming into the tournament as World No. 62, Popyrin jumped to a career-high number 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings after the victory. With his win, he became the first Australian Masters 1000 winner since Lleyton Hewitt took the Indian Wells title in 2003.

“Not only me, but my family, my girlfriend, my team, everyone around me. They sacrificed their whole life for me and for me to win this for them is amazing,” Popyrin said after winning.

Two weeks later, Popyrin again upset defending champion Djokovic in the third round of the US Open. He became the first player to beat Djokovic before the fourth round on hard court since Australian Hewitt won the title in the third round in 2006.

Fils, Korda makes ATP 500 success
French #NextGenATP Arthur Fils won his second ATP Tour title at the Hamburg Open by defeating Alexander Zverev on his home turf. In their 2023 semifinal, Fils avenged their loss to the Germans by saving 21 of 22 points at halftime in the final. Fils made his first Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings thanks to the win.

Sebastian Korda also won his second ATP Tour title at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The American saved two points from Thanasi Kokkinakis in the third round en route to the title. With his win, he became the second American since Andy Roddick in 2007 to win the title. Korda’s father Petr Korda won the tournament in 1992, making them the first two sons to win the same title in ATP Tour history.

Berrettini goes back to Gstaad and Kitzbuhel
Former World No. Matteo Berrettini 6 won the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad by beating Quentin Halys in the final. He also picked up impressive wins against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime on his way to the top of the ATP 250 clay court.

The Italian built on his momentum the following week to win his third major title of the season, and 10th overall, at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel. The 2021 Wimbledon finalist did not drop a set in the entire fortnight.

Other Q3 champions…
Marcos Giron and Nuno Borges became first-time ATP Tour title winners with wins in Newport and Bastad, respectively. Giron won her maiden crown at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open. The 30-year-old saved a match point against fellow American #NextGenATP Alex Michelsen in the final.

Borges won his first trophy at the Nordea Open. The Portuguese defeated Rafael Nadal in the final and dropped just one set on his way to the title.

Yoshihito Nishioka and Francisco Cerundolo won their first titles of the season. Nishioka won the Atlanta Open title after seeing off a remarkable quarter-final victory over home favorite Tiafoe. Cerundolo won the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag to claim his third career title. The Argentine defeated the top two players Rublev and Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-final and final, respectively.

Lorenzo Sonego won his fourth tour-level title at the Winston-Salem Open without dropping a set. The Italian beat Michelsen in the final, who is currently second in the PIF ATP Race to Jeddah.