Jannik Sinner moves past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in one area with Indian Wells title

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz seem to be breaking new ground almost every week these days.

While Alcaraz had the early headlines this year, it was Sinner who took centre stage at Indian Wells.

Sinner’s 16-match unbeaten run came to an end in the semi-finals at the hands of Daniil Medvedev, who then lost to Alcaraz in the final.

The title win marks another milestone for Sinner, who has now moved ahead of both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in one notable category.

Jannik Sinner breaks record as the youngest to achieve a historic tennis milestone

Already the first player ever to win back-to-back Masters 1000 events without dropping a set, Sinner has added another accolade to his growing list alongside the Indian Wells title.

It’s a standout accomplishment that sets him apart from everyone who has played before him.

The Italian is now the youngest player ever to complete the sweep of all hard-court Masters 1000 titles, with Indian Wells being the final one he needed to tick off.

His first Masters 1000 win came in Canada in 2023, played on a hard court, and he picked up most of the remaining titles in 2024, including Miami, Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Sinner finished off last year by adding the Paris Masters crown and sealed the full set with his victory at Indian Wells this past weekend.

How Sinner’s hard-court Masters 1000 record stacks up against Djokovic’s

Right now, Sinner is considered by many to be the top player on hard courts, but it wasn’t long ago that Novak Djokovic held that title.

Over the course of his career, many believe the Serb is the best we’ve ever seen on this surface.

So how does Sinner compare to the 24-time Grand Slam winner at Masters 1000 events played on hard courts?

Sinner has now competed in 25 tournaments at this level and on this surface, claiming six titles along the way. That gives him a conversion rate of 24%, and he’s also reached at least the quarter-finals in more than half of those events.

Djokovic, naturally, has played far more – an astonishing 127 hard-court Masters 1000 events in total. He managed to win 29 of those titles, which works out to a win rate of around 23%.

Sinner edges that percentage for now but has done so over a much smaller sample size.

If Sinner wants to surpass Djokovic as the greatest ever hard-court player, he’ll need to keep up his current form for many years yet. There’s still a long way to go before that conversation can truly begin.

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