For many years, the world’s top tennis players have showcased incredible consistency and endurance, allowing them to start the season with impressive winning streaks. Such unprecedented achievements require maximum concentration, physical fitness, and psychological resilience from the players. In this article, we will examine outstanding season starts in the ATP Tour since 1990 and analyze how new talents attempt to surpass the records of legendary tennis players.
Sinner enters the top 5, but Djokovic is not threatened
In the current 2024 season, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner has burst into the elite, starting the year with 16 consecutive victories. His triumphant run included capturing his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, as well as winning the prestigious ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam. The 22-year-old Italian demonstrated stability at the highest level by reaching the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where his winning streak was halted by Carlos Alcaraz. Such an impressive start allowed Sinner to enter the top 5 best tennis players on the planet by the number of consecutive victories since 1990. Many professional bettors accurately assessed Sinner’s strength and made decent money on tennis bets with bookmakers like Mostbet and other companies. If you understand tennis, all you need to start your journey is to download the functional mobile application AZ yukle.
However, Italian has not yet managed to surpass the absolute record of the Serbian Novak Djokovic, set in 2011. In that legendary season, Djokovic had an incredible streak of 41 consecutive victories, which was only interrupted in the semifinals of the French Open in a match against Roger Federer.
Record holders of the season start
In addition to Djokovic and Sinner, the list of the best season starts in the open era also includes such illustrious tennis players as Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. American Sampras brightly started the year 1997 by winning the Australian Open, followed by titles in San Jose and Philadelphia. His winning streak reached 17 matches, and by the end of the season, he won two Grand Slam trophies and finished the year as the world’s top-ranked player.
Not far behind Sampras is Swiss player Roger Federer. In 2006, he started with victories at the Qatar Open and Australian Open, then reached the final in Dubai, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. Nevertheless, this season was one of the best in Federer’s career: he won three majors and finished the year with an astonishing record of 92 wins to 5 losses.
Two other outstanding season starts belong to Federer – in 2018 when he won the Australian Open for the second consecutive year and also triumphed at the ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam, reaching the final of Indian Wells where he was stopped by Juan Martin Del Potro. And in 2013, Novak Djokovic started the season with 17 consecutive victories, winning the Australian Open and the Dubai tournament, but then lost in the semifinals of Indian Wells to the Argentine Del Potro.
Impressive record of Nadal
Another holder of an outstanding winning streak at the beginning of the season is the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. In 2022, he showed incredible determination by winning two sets against Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Australian Open and ultimately becoming the tournament champion. After that, Nadal also won the title in Acapulco, extending his winning streak to 20 matches.
The Spaniard was close to continuing this impressive achievement by reaching the final of the Masters 1000 series tournament in Indian Wells. However, in the decisive match of the American Masters, Nadal lost to Taylor Fritz, ending his winning streak.
Undoubtedly, 20 consecutive victories are an outstanding achievement for any tennis player. However, this number still significantly falls short of Novak Djokovic’s absolute record set in 2011. In that legendary season, the Serbian achieved an incredible 41 consecutive victories, which remains unreachable for other players to this day.