Career Golden Masters: What is the rare feat that Jannik Sinner hopes to achieve?
Jannik Sinner is on the verge of becoming only the second player to achieve the Career Golden Masters and if he manages to complete the set at this year’s Italian Open, he will become the youngest player to do so.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Sinner is two wins away from lifting the Italian Open trophy and, if he does end up being the last man standing in Rome, he will join tennis great Djokovic in the exclusive ATP Masters 1000 club.
The world No 1 is in the form of his life at Masters level as he has become the first man to win five consecutive tournaments, as he won titles at the Paris Masters last November and followed it up with trophies at the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Open.
In total, Sinner has nine ATP Masters titles to his name as he also won the Canadian Open in 2023 and the Cincinnati Open and Shanghai Masters in 2024.
That means the Italian Open is the only ATP Masters 1000 trophy missing from his collection and he could make it a two-man club by the end of this weekend if he defeats Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final and Casper Ruud in the final.
So, What Is A Career Golden Masters?
A player achieves a Career Golden Masters when he wins all nine active ATP Masters 1000 tournaments – Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris – over the course of his career.
As mentioned earlier, Djokovic is the only player to have notched up this achievement as he completed the set in 2018 when he won the Cincinnati Open for the first time in his career.
The Serbian had been stuck on eight different Masters events for five years as he won No 8 at the 2013 Monte Carlo Masters. He first lifted the Miami Open in 2007 and the following year he was champion in Indian Wells and Rome for the first time.
In 2009, he won the Paris Masters for the first time, in 2011 he was crowned Madrid Open champion and the following year he won the Shanghai Masters title.
Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in straight sets in the 2018 Cincinnati final to complete the Career Golden Masters and in 2020 he won his second Career Golden Masters when he lifted the Cincinnati title for a second time.
Sinner Eyeing A Record
Djokovic was 31 years old when he completed the Career Golden Masters for the first time and Sinner will surpass him if he wins the Italian Open on Sunday, as he is only 24 years old.
And even if he doesn’t complete it this year, he still has another six years to go to win at least one Italian Open title to move ahead of Djokovic as the youngest player to achieve the feat.
Others
The 23-year-old Carlos Alcaraz is currently three shy of completing his Career Golden Masters as the Canadian Open, Shanghai Masters and Paris Masters are missing from his CV.
Rafael Nadal missed out on trophies at the Miami Open and Paris Masters while Federer failed to win the Monte Carlo Masters, Italian Open and Paris Masters.
