The fourth edition of a battle many believe will become a key rivalry in the hunt for major trophies over the next decade took place under the spotlight of the blazing Monte Carlo sun on Friday and was the headline match of this year’s quarter-finals.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic may have raised an eyebrow at such a bold claim when he’s in town, but a mouthwatering showdown between two starlets on the cusp of superstardom, ‘is tennis’, according to the ATP’s campaign to promote its brand for 2024.
‘New season, new era, new attitude’ is its boast with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner taking centre stage as its poster boys.
The fact Holger Rune – tipped to emerge alongside the other two as a multiple Grand Slam winner and as a member of the new ‘Big 3’ – is in the promo video but not on the main poster says much about the Dane’s mixed fortunes since exploding onto the scene by winning the Paris Masters as a teenager at the back end of 2022.
Rune, now 20, seemed to be on the verge of matching Alcaraz’s trophy-laden exploits when he put together an 18-5 record across six Masters 1000 tournaments from Paris 2022 through to Rome the following year.
The Scandinavian was the runner-up here in Monte Carlo and Rome and has also reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals, but there is no doubt the former world No. 4’s level in the second part of 2023 dropped significantly.
Instead, it was Sinner who embarked upon an unstoppable surge at the end of the year and carried it into 2024 with his maiden major title in Australia, leaving him as one of two young guns (along with Alcaraz) that currently look the most capable of stopping Djokovic’s recent monopoly of majors.
Indeed, talk of the new ‘Big 3’ has stalled somewhat, although there are signs Rune is finding his feet again after a reunion with Patrick Mouratoglou followed on from the short experiment with Boris Becker.
Despite the dip, Rune’s pedigree is clear to most within the sport and it is therefore felt it is only a matter of time until ‘the new Big 3’ starts trending on social media again.
This match between Rune and Sinner on Court Rainier III was the fourth edition in what the sport is desperate to see develop as a regular H2H meeting of new heroes of the men’s game at the business end of the biggest tournaments.
Two heavyweights hitting halcyon tennis heights with silverware on the line is what helped define the rivalries between the likes of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and the ATP are obviously very keen for that sort of gap to be filled in the years ahead when all three greats have finally hung up their racquets.
This was an intriguing tussle between Sinner’s power game and Rune’s variety. It also saw the hot-headed Dane – fittingly donning a fiery orange attire – at the centre of some disputes with the umpire and happily playing villain versus a large contingent of Italian supporters, seemingly feeding off their boos.
It juxtaposed perfectly with the ice-cool poker face of his opponent, wearing an understated black-green combination, and seemingly unwilling to get involved when the fireworks erupted on the other side of the net.
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‘We believe in ourselves’ – Sinner on rising to stardom with Alcaraz and Rune
The previous three encounters between the pair went the distance, so it was only fitting Rune saved two match points in the second set tie-break to push it to a third.
He threatened an upset briefly but in the end it was the in-form Sinner who edged a high-octane contest to delight the pro-Italian crowd and square the H2H at 2-2. The 22-year-old also avenged his defeat to the Dane on this very court at the semi-final stage last year.
The loss will see Rune drop out of the top 10 in the rankings for the first time since 2023 with a record of 15-8 for the year. It is a minor blow for the youngster, but this was a high-class showing from the Dane and he can take some positives from the example of Sinner and his recent change in fortune. The Italian ended 2022 on a 19-2 run (2-2 in finals) after going from a woeful 1-6 from January-February and 0-7 from June-July.
Sinner is now 25-1 for this calendar year and is only the third man in history to reach the last four of the first three Masters 1000 events of the year on multiple occasions (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo). Only Rafael Nadal (four times) and Novak Djokovic (three times) have previously achieved the feat more than once, with Sinner doing it in back-to-back years (2023 and now 2024).
The victory also ensures Sinner will remain at No. 2 in the world come Monday and keeps him on course for a potential blockbuster of a final with Djokovic, should the top two male players on the planet manage to navigate their respective semi finals.
For now, the Sinner-Rune rivalry is tied and ready to bubble along nicely, particularly if Rune has a resurgence. As a result, it isn’t A-list material just yet, but time tussling at the very top can change that with the contrast of styles and personalities as well as undoubted talent and desire to succeed at both ends of the net making future battles almost certain to live up to the hype.