Jannik Sinner’s dominant run to the Australian Open title proved one thing: he is undoubtedly the best player in the men’s game as things stand.

An emphatic path to his third Grand Slam victory highlighted many of the aspects that have come to define his reign at the top of the men’s game, from his hard-court prowess to his growing aura of invincibility.

Sinner’s Australian Open victory and his reign as the world No 1 – 34 weeks, and counting – do not come without controversy.

However, it is almost impossible to argue against statistics, the number of milestones he hit after defeating Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final is almost uncountable.

One in particular did stand out: his match against world No 2 Zverev was his 50th since he became world No 1 in June 2024.

The Italian has made history after a dominant spell at the top to date.

Close to untouchable

Sinner rose to world No 1 after the French Open last summer and has not been dislodged from the top spot since then.

That spell has seen the 23-year-old not only defend his Australian Open title but also win the US Open title, guide Italy to a second straight Davis Cup title, and win seven ATP-level titles in total.

In fact, Sinner has tasted defeat just three times since he rose to world No 1 last summer.

Those losses came to Daniil Medvedev at Wimbledon, Andrey Rublev at the Canadian Open, and lastly to Carlos Alcaraz at the China Open; he has won 21 straight matches since then.

Sinner has now amassed a staggering 47-3 record in his first 50 matches as the world’s top-ranked player, an equal ATP record alongside Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg.

The only three losses that Connors faced in his first 50 matches as the world No 1 were to Juan Gisbert in Toronto, Onny Parun in San Francisco, and John Newcombe at the Australian Open.

Meanwhile, Borg’s only defeats came to John McEnroe in Dallas, Eliot Teltscher in Hamburg, and Roscoe Tanner at the US Open.

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Sinner, Connors, and Borg are joint-first, though tennis legend Roger Federer is not too far behind.

The Swiss holds a 46-4 record in his first 50 matches as the world No 1, with his losses coming to Tim Henman in Rotterdam, Rafael Nadal in Miami, Albert Costa in Rome, and Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros.

In fifth place is Andre Agassi, who won 45 of his first 50 matches atop the ATP Rankings, while Rafael Nadal triumphed in 44 of his first 50 matches.

Novak Djokovic recorded a 42-8 win-loss record, while Carlos Alcaraz – Sinner’s key rival – is yet to hit 50 matches as the world No 1.

The Spaniard holds a 33-9 record in his 42 matches to date.

Staggering world No 1 win percentage

Sinner’s 47-3 record since becoming world No 1 means that he currently holds an extraordinary win rate of 96% while sitting atop the ATP Rankings.

Though that record will likely go down as his career progresses, that currently puts him ahead of Borg, who held the record of 91.9% (136-12).