Jannik Sinner, 22, defeats Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz, the number 1 seed, in the semifinals of the ATP Beijing tournament in 2023, equaling Adriano Panatta’s record. The Italian player wins 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 in 1h55′ and advances to the final where he will face Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner’s achievement also sets a record as he will rise from seventh to fourth place in the ATP rankings starting from next Monday, matching the highest rank ever achieved by an Italian tennis player. The only other Italian player to reach the ‘top 4′ in the computer-driven era of rankings was Panatta on August 24, 1976.
During Panatta’s time, the top 4 players in the world were: Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, Giullermo Vilas, and Adriano Panatta. In the upcoming rankings, Sinner will be ranked 4th, ahead of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev. He will be behind Stefanos Tsitsipas, Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, and Alex Zverev.
Panatta held the number 4 ranking for 3 weeks from August 24 to September 12. On September 13, 1976, after Jimmy Connors’ victory over Bjorn Borg in the US Open final, Nastase surpassed Panatta, who dropped to number 5 and eventually finished the year at number 7. During his time as the world number 4, Panatta reached the quarterfinals in Boston (defeated by Borg) and lost in the second round at Forest Hills against Bill Scanlon. In the same period, Nastase won the South Orange tournament by defeating Roscoe Tanner in the final and reached the semifinals at Forest Hills, losing to Bjorn Borg.
It is highly likely that Sinner will end the season in a position never achieved by an Italian tennis player in the computer era. If he remains fourth, the South Tyrolean player would be second only to Nicola Pietrangeli, who ranked 3rd in the world at the end of 1959 and 1960.