Jannik Sinner, Yokozuna

Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner became the 19th male Yokozuna (= Grand Champion) of the open era today, by winning the 2024 US Open and the 2025 Australian Open back-to-back. He joins a small elite group of players who have dominated the men's game in the past 57 years. 

Sinner looked dominant indeed throughout the tournament, winning almost all his matches in straight sets with his powerful, accurate and variable baseline game to which his opponents found no answer. In the final, the seasoned and strong Ozeki (=Champion) Alexander Zverev failed to carve out even a single break point - even though Zverev played many brilliant exchanges, but they were needed to just stay in the match. The only time Sinner looked somewhat vulnerable was in round 4 against former Komusubi (=Junior Champion II) Holger Rune, and there it was arguably the hot and humid conditions more than the opponent that challenged Sinner.  

Yokozuna is a rank for life, hence Sinner can no longer be demoted. He can only be declared inactive if he fails to produce sufficiently strong results. 

Yokozuna promotions are rare: on average, there is one only every three years. In the past 20 years they had been even rarer: between 1995 and 2024, only the "big four"  Roger Federer (2004), Rafael Nadal (2008), Novak Djokovic (2011) and Andy Murray (2016) ascended to the highest rank. Now there have been two Yokozuna promotions in quick succession: Carlos Alcaraz after the 2024 Wimbledon tournament, and Sinner. 

This signals not only a new era, it also means that the Yokozuna rank seems to have jumped a tennis generation: the one remaining player of the "great four" era, Novak Djokovic, is 37 years sold, Sinner is 23, Alcaraz 21. Between them lies a generation of great players who saw their path to the highest rank blocked, including the career-high Ozeki Dominic Thiem (31 years), Daniil Medvedev (28), Matteo Berrettini (28), Zverev (27), Casper Ruud (26) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (26).  

In the ladies' game, long-standing Ozeki Aryna Sabalenka fell again one win short of a Yokozuna promotion, losing the Australian Open final against former Ozeki Madison Keys. Sabalenka remains on a Yokozuna run though and now needs to reach the final at the 2025 French Open to make it to the highest rank.

Full updates to follow shortly.