Jannik Sinner may well be following in Rafael Nadal’s footsteps as he claims the ATP Finals title again

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Jannik Sinner might not be the number one tennis player statistically, but he certainly finished the season with a flourish.

Sinner won the ATP Finals over the weekend, beating Carlos Alcaraz in an entertaining final, completing the defence of the title he won last year.

Alcaraz hailed Sinner after his loss to the Italian, and he must now rest and recuperate, ready to compete with the in-form world number two next year.

Viewing figures were through the roof for Alcaraz and Sinner, with the two players very much the star attractions on the ATP Tour.

Sinner’s dominance at the ATP Finals has been remarkable, and now there is a sense that he’s ready to follow in Rafael Nadal’s footsteps.

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Jannik Sinner could be following Rafael Nadal’s path

Nadal was the master when it came to the French Open, and Roland Garros was where he claimed 14 of the 22 Grand Slam titles he collected.

Nadal had a remarkable 97% win ratio at the French Open, losing only four matches across his career.

The player was an immovable object on clay courts, and now perhaps Sinner is adopting the same mentality when it comes to playing indoors and more specifically at the ATP Finals.

Sinner overtook Djokovic’s win percentage on hard courts over a two-year period with his win at the weekend, and his mantra is very much that records are there to be broken.

Sinner won the ATP Finals for the second successive year without dropping a set, and with the tournament taking place on his doorstep in Turin, he’s developed a ruthless streak.

Clearly, the Italian enjoys playing the event, and perhaps he’s now found his tournament just like Nadal did when he started to dominate the French Open.

Nadal had Sinner’s number before he retired

Although Sinner is one of the dominant forces in tennis right now, that wasn’t always the case in the early stages of his career.

Nadal and Sinner met three times before the Spaniard called time on his career, and managed to win all three games against the player.

Sinner is now on his own path to dominate the game of tennis on the ATP Tour, and alongside Alcaraz, the two players will undoubtedly claim many more titles.

It’s pretty niche what Sinner has managed to do by winning two successive ATP Finals in succession without dropping a set, with the feat not managed since 1986.

Now, it looks as though the Turin tournament will become his favoured tournament and it will now be fascinating to see whether Sinner and Alcaraz will continue their dominance in 2026.