Tennis News: Jannik Sinner compared to Mike Tyson and Novak Djokovic's exhibition

Jannik Sinner is well atop the ATP tour as he leads the ranking points by more than 4,000 over No. 2 Alexander Zverev. He is almost certain to end the year at No. 1 unless something strange happens. He also won the first two Grand Slams of his career in 2024, winning first at the Australian Open and then at the US Open.

There will likely be a debate over the next decade about who the better player is: Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz. Alcaraz has won the clay-court French Open and grass-court Wimbledon. He has not won the hard-court Aussie Open, though Sinner has. Both players have now won a US Open title.

According to former player turned commentator Adriano Panatta (and, to be fair, fellow Italian), Sinner approaches a match in the same way that a young Mike Tyson approached a boxing match. Tyson would enter the ring and immediately get to work, pummeling an opponent. Panatta says Sinner does the same thing.

Jannik Sinner is tennis' Mike Tyson (maybe?) and Novak Djokovic is set to play a new event

The difference, of course, is that in a boxing match, a fighter can knock his opponent out at any point. In tennis, a player has to play the match fully and there are no knock-out opportunities. Sinner could jump to a two-set lead at a Grand Slam and lose the next three sets and the match. Tyson was also unquestionably the best boxer of his age when he was younger but the same cannot be said of Sinner.

Panatta told the La Telefonota podcast, "Sinner is the only player who comes onto the court and doesn’t wait. I think of Tyson in the first matches, when he came in and hit until the other fell to the ground. Sinner has this mentality: he plays, then he can even miss a few balls, but he plays the match, he never waits. This is the big difference between him and the others, it’s what Alcaraz does when he is in form, and in fact, he is the only one who can beat him."

A rival of Sinner's and Alcaraz's, Novak Djokovic might be getting closer to the end of his career but he is not done playing tennis yet. Besides playing high-level tournaments, he is rumored to play an exhibition match in Mexico once the 2024 season is done.

According to Esto.com, Djokovic will take on an as-of-yet unnamed opponent most likely in December. Mexico has also been the home to the WTA Finals, but that tournament has struggled with weather issues. Let's hope the Djokovic exhibition does not have the same problems.

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