Jannik Sinner now has a golden opportunity to achieve historic feat only three players have ever managed

It will certainly have been frustrating for Jannik Sinner to watch the US Open unfold from home, as it was probably a fairly comfortable tournament for him to win had he been fit.

With Carlos Alcaraz not quite at 100% and Novak Djokovic bowing out in the first round, the draw in New York was wide open.

It was ultimately Alexander Zverev who seized the moment, with the German defeating Ben Shelton in the final to capture his first US Open title and second Grand Slam overall.

Sinner may be finishing the season with fewer majors than his fans had expected, but he still has plenty to play for in 2026, including a historic feat.

Jannik Sinner's chance to make history at the ATP Finals

Sinner has four title defences to take care of between now and the end of the season, the first of which comes at the China Open.

From there, he will defend his crowns at the Vienna Open and the Paris Masters, before competing at the ATP Finals.

Sinner has not lost a match at the ATP Finals since the 2023 edition of the year-end tournament, where he fell in the final to Novak Djokovic.

Since then, he has gone back-to-back at the ATP Finals without dropping a set.

Now, Sinner is bidding to become just the fourth player in men's tennis history to win the ATP Finals for a third season in a row.

The only players to have three-peated at the prestigious event are Ilie Nastase, Ivan Lendl and Djokovic.

Djokovic is the only player to have won the ATP Finals four seasons in a row, which he managed from 2012 to 2015.

The Serb came close to winning five in a row, but was denied by Andy Murray in the title bout of the 2016 ATP Finals.

Jannik Sinner's campaign at last year's ATP Finals

Sinner came into last year's ATP Finals on a dominant winning streak, having won consecutive tournaments in Vienna and Paris.

Remarkably, Sinner had dropped just one set throughout that run, which he conceded in the Vienna Open to Zverev.

In his first match of the group stage, Sinner had little trouble winning 7-5, 6-1 against Felix Auger-Aliassime, who had just reached the US Open semifinals.

He then defeated Zverev fairly comfortably before beating Shelton to make it a clean sweep in the round robin.

Sinner came out on top over Alex de Minaur in the semifinals to set up a final clash with Alcaraz.

Though Alcaraz handed Sinner his biggest test of the tournament, it was not enough to deny the in-form player in front of a home crowd in Turin.