2024 TIME100 Next: Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner Credit - Julian Finney—Getty Images

In 2024, Italian tennis phenom Jannik Sinner won his first two majors and ascended to world No. 1. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz won the other two Slam tournaments. The pair’s matchups could fuel men’s tennis for the next decade. “It’s nice always to have someone who pushes you to do better,” says Sinner.

This summer, a doping controversy threatened to overshadow his accomplishments, but a tennis integrity agency cleared him of any fault for testing positive earlier in the year for trace amounts of a banned substance—a ruling the World Anti-Doping Agency now plans to appeal. Even so,a U.S. Open victory helped quiet concern. “I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said in a mid-September interview. “I’m happy that this is now behind me.”

For his part, Sinner credits his rise to his focus on fundamentals. “When you try to become a good cook, in the beginning, most likely the dish is not going to be good,” says Sinner. “But you keep trying. After, it becomes a good dish to eat, no?” After his chef’s kiss of a tennis campaign, we’ll take Sinner at his word.

Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com.