How do you sometimes see it so beautifully in free sales areas? “Your advertisement could be here” is what they like to say. And this motto also applies a bit to Jannik Sinner's Grand Slam year 2022. So many chances, so relatively little made of them. Partly through my own fault, partly because of other circumstances. Like in the round of 16 in Roland Garros, when Sinner won the first set against Andrey Rublev with some certainty, but had to give up in the third due to an injury.

The major year didn't start badly for the 21-year-old South Tyrolean. At least until the quarter-finals match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open, in which Sinner then lost without a chance. In the match before he had successfully treated local hero Alex de Minaur, which made the smooth 3: 6, 4: 6 and 2: 6 against Tsitsipas all the more surprising.

Sinner gives away a two-set lead against Djokovic

The last two Grand Slam tournaments were really frustrating for Jannik Sinner. Because great things could have happened with both of them. At Wimbledon he again qualified for the quarter-finals - with a superb performance against Carlos Alcaraz. Which he also followed in the first two sets against the later champion Novak Djokovic. Only to have to admit defeat to the great Serb in five sets. Jannik Sinner does not have this fate exclusively, ask Stefanos Tsitsipas or Lorenzo Musetti, who experienced the same thing in Roland Garros 2021.

And now Carlos Alcaraz is in the final of the US Open. The Alcaraz that Sinner defeated in three sets in the Umag final a few weeks ago. And against whom he missed a match point in the fourth set in the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows. That's part of the fascination of tennis. And Sinner should have defeated Frances Tiafoe in the semifinals. The chances of the really big breakthrough for Jannik Sinner were greater than ever before. Especially since an even better result in New York would have been a great help for the Race to Turin. In the annual ranking, Sinner is currently only in 14th position. A strong autumn is now needed for a renewed appearance at the ATP Finals.

On the other hand, the 2022 season so far has also shown that Sinner's move to separate from teacher Riccardo Piatti and bring Darren Cahill into the team as a part-time coach has paid off. And despite the low blows in the later rounds of the majors, Jannik Sinner will have a leading role in shaping the fortunes of men's tennis in the coming years.