ANALYSIS: Jannik Sinner still being World No.1 after months away shows sorry state in men’s tennis

Jannik Sinner will return in the coming weeks at the Rome Open to much fanfare but he will still be top seed, World No.1 which shows the sorry state of men’s tennis in the current modern era which showcases a lack of players ready to step up and challenge.

Sinner always had promise but kind of fell into the lead protagonist earlier than expected and somewhat unexpected. He was always a superb player but had a stint after he was sick in a bin in Beijing which handed him the keys to the castle so to speak.

Carlos Alcaraz while he has mopped up the rest of majors has his foibles and while he has grouped himself alongside Sinner has not mapped himself out as a genuine contender for the dominance that Sinner has when he is at the top of the sport.

Alexander Zverev has admirably returned after her Roland Garros horrorshow in 2022 when he was up on Rafael Nadal and suffered a near career ending injury. He is better than ever over the past year but still is no closer to being a Grand Slam champion.

Neither World No.1 with the German having a ‘golden’ opportunity pun intended where he played the Golden Swing in what was a move which was a calculated misfire. He saw lesser fields and players he could easily beat on a normal day and thought that is the route to World No.1.

Same as Carlos Alcaraz when he had the top spot begging two years ago and he barely won a match in Asia. Zverev had the same result. Perhaps not unexpected, it was a swing dominated by the same faces as ever. Those being Sebastian Baez and Francisco Cerundolo.

Cerundolo in particular has the most wins on the tour this year as of this week and these tournaments suit those adept to the climate and like Casper Ruud on European clay, it is easy prey and poor for those big names who don’t play these surfaces all year round.

Perhaps it didn’t help also that he played Acapulco and most of the field got food poisoning. While unconfirmed for him, he seemed to get it during his loss. Defeats to Cerundolo, Comesana, Tien among others in recent weeks as well as the player who often finds his way back into contention somehow in Matteo Berrettini, Zverev has massively faltered when it has been begging for him.

Sinner has had his feet up at Dior fashion shows while the top players have failed to gather the eight ball. He of course can only practice ironically on the courts of Monte-Carlo during his time away due to the current rules which also affect Elena Rybakina’s banned coach Stefano Vukov.

They can get away with still being a tandem due to the rules not affecting courts not under the WTA jurisdiction. The same can be said for Sinner who likely has polished his skills with his departing coach Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi.

But while he has not been the easiest time for him, he too will be shocked with his role still as top seed going into the clay court season. A surface he doesn’t massively thrive on in years gone by, it will be a real chance if recent weeks are to go by.

So much has been the drop off of the big names that Novak Djokovic looked the best of all in Miami when he had a sty on his eye in the final and has suffered early losses in recent months which have made people wonder if he would ever return to his best.

He isn’t after World No.1 anymore so it matters little on his end. But he will search for the 100th title knowing it is perhaps in his reach.

But the only solace that men’s tennis can take similar to Andreeva in WTA is that various top talents are coming for what is a stagnant top 10. Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik have both won titles in recent weeks and big ones in Indian Wells and Miami.

Arthur Fils even has reached multiple Quarter-Finals, Joao Fonseca has stood out at times in recent months and it seems finally that in a season or so we will get bonafide challengers for Messrs Sinner and Alcaraz that can really push them.

But with the ATP Finals long being inhabited by the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and even Zverev. Players who have shown promise, win titles on the 1000 level but no further, it has always been a foregone conclusion who wins the titles in the end.

With these new names though, it showcases a new crop of stars to get behind that can actually trouble the sport. Also amid the departure of Nadal, Federer and even Djokovic, Sinner will hope that he has someone to trouble him.

It is now up to Alcaraz also to finally master surfaces he currently can’t such as indoor hard and even clay. He won Roland Garros but hasn’t shown the form this year going in that he will be the top name to watch.

A lot of question marks going into the new clay court season especially given Sinner resumes as he did before, a true barometer of a lack of challengers right now who can step up. A sorry state for men’s tennis.

One that isn’t the case in women’s tennis where Aryna Sabalenka at least has trouble from a myriad of names who don’t hand her titles. Swiatek may be in turmoil at times, Gauff isn’t playing great but Pegula, Andreeva and even down to Anisimova showcase what can be done when the top names don’t have a good fortnight.

Perhaps that also will gleam some more interesting Grand Slam winners and won’t be as much of a foregone conclusion as the men could be when Sinner finally does return.