Jannik Sinner has beaten nearly every player on the ATP Tour over the last two years.
Sinner has won four Grand Slam titles since January 2024, with his latest coming at Wimbledon.
The Italian has also topped the ATP rankings for 65 weeks, before Carlos Alcaraz returned to world number one after beating him in the US Open final.
Alcaraz has beaten Sinner more times than any other player in the last two years, but another who beat the Australian Open champion has since plummeted down the rankings.
Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesEmil Ruusuvuori: The ATP player who beat Jannik Sinner two years ago
Emil Ruusuvuori is that player, the former world number 37 who had previously beaten Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev.
The ATP player from Finland showcased some of his potential at the Libema Open in 2023, reaching the quarterfinals of the grass court tournament.
This set up a meeting with second seed Sinner, against whom Ruusuvuori had lost all five of his previous meetings on the ATP Tour.
Despite dominating the head-to-head, Sinner had previously praised Ruusuvuori and called him a ‘very, very good player’ after beating him at the Washington Open in 2021.
“It was not easy. We’ve had some great battles already, this time was the third [time I faced him]. He’s a very, very good player and a young guy. I’m happy about my performance today.
“I was trying to play my game. I think we both have similar styles, we both play quite flat. I was trying to change direction [of the ball] earlier than him, and that worked well for me today.”
Sinner was right to have been wary about Ruusuvuori, who was able to continue his impressive run in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and beat the Italian, 6-3 6-4, to reach the semifinals.
After getting his first win over Sinner on the main ATP Tour, Ruusuvuori reflected on their previous meetings.
“It was a great performance overall. He’s a hell of a player,” said Ruusuvuori. “Before this match I was 0-5 against Jannik in our head-to-head clashes. It’s always a difficult match to go after him, but I just gave everything. Today I was playing very well and able to get the win, so I am very happy.”
Even after this match, two-time ATP finalist Ruusuvuori went on to achieve new firsts in his career and reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon.
Ruusuvuori also helped Finland reach the semifinals of the Davis Cup for the first time, but it has been a challenging time for him ever since then.
What has happened to Emil Ruusuvuori since his win over Jannik Sinner?
It is clear to see how talented Ruusuvuori is, having reached two ATP finals, beaten four top 10 players and been ranked inside the world’s top 40 himself.
However, Ruusuvuori struggled to show this same sort of form during the 2024 season and after losing in the second round of the Washington Open, he revealed that he had been struggling mentally and decided to take a break from tennis.
The 26-year-old wrote on Instagram at the time, “Hello everyone. As you know, the past year has been challenging: I have achieved things I have dreamed of since I was a child, but the balance between work and recovery has not been right.
“Due to overloading, I have decided to take a break from tennis for the rest of the year and focus on my physical and mental health.”
After a six-month hiatus from tennis, Ruusuvuori would return at the ATP Challenger event in Tenerife, where he would lose in the first round.
Since making his comeback to the sport, Ruusuvuori has only won six of his 19 matches and this has subsequently had a dramatic impact on his ranking.
Ruusuvuori has now lost all of his ranking points earned in the 2024 season and is now the world number 675.
While this is very far from the player he once was, Ruusuvuori recently made his Grand Slam comeback at the US Open and now has no ranking points to defend until February next year.