Casper Ruud picks between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for player of the year
The tennis year has been dominated by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but Casper Ruud believes only one of the Grand Slam winners can be hailed as the player of 2024.
Alcaraz and Sinner shared the four Grand Slam titles this year, as they established an impressive dominance over their rivals in the best-of-five-set format.
Sinner fired the starting gun as he won his first major title at the Australian Open in January before Alcaraz won his first French Open title and then defending his Wimbledon crown in sparkling fashion.
World No 1 Sinner then cashed in on a shock early exit for Alcaraz at the US Open as he won his first title in New York, with the new top two in the men’s game looking well placed to continue their dominance next year.
Now world No 7 Ruud has given his verdict on the new top two in the men’s game, as he suggested the Sinner is a step ahead of the young Spaniard.
“He is deservedly the world No 1,” said Ruud of Sinner. “He is definitely the player to beat this year. It seems like this guy almost forgot how to lose.”
Ruud has enjoyed another solid season and his presence in the ATP Finals final four in Turin highlights his consistency, but he admits he feels like he faces a huge battle when he takes on a player of Sinner’s calibre.
“It’s tough to play all the best players in the world, but it’s also nice because sometimes you feel like an underdog and you can play freely,” he added.
Tennis365 asked celebrated coach Patrick Mouratoglou to nominate his player of the year and he admitted that was a tough task as Sinner and Alcaraz both have claims to that title.
Speaking to Tennis365 in an exclusive interview ahead of the UTS Grand Final at London’s Copper Box Arena from December 6-8, Mouratoglou looked back on Alcaraz’s achievement and suggested he passed the biggest test in the sport by winning both major titles.
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“I think what he did is probably the most difficult thing to do in tennis, to win back to back, two tournaments that are opposite in terms of qualities to win them,” Mouratoglou told Tennis365.
“At Roland Garros, you need to be high on your legs, sliding, using a lot to spin longer rallies. Then go to Wimbledon, where you have to return big servers on the surface that is, of course, better for counter punchers or players who are much more aggressive with less spin.
“At Wimbledon, you have to be so low on the legs and not slide and wow, those two tournaments are so close in terms of timing, to make those two back to back, is probably one of most difficult things to do in tennis.
“Then you look at what Sinner has achieved this year and it is also amazing. So many wins, two Grand Slams, world No 1. Along with Alcaraz, they are both the players of the year.”
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