Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner better than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic at their primes, insinuates Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander has made a rather surprising assessment of the level of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, insinuating that when the duo is playing at their very best, they are better than even Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The former World No. 1 believes that Alcaraz and Sinner are capable of doing more difficult things with the tennis ball than anyone who has ever picked up a racket.
The Spaniard and the Italian put on a splendid show just a couple of days back, facing off in the final of the China Open. After playing the longest match in the history of the tournament and battling for nearly three and a half hours in Beijing, Alcaraz prevailed in a three-set thriller to win the ATP 500 tournament.
The World No. 3 has now won his last three matches against Sinner, extending his head-to-head lead to 6-4. Sinner, despite the form against the Spaniard, has been on a roll all year and has won two of the four Grand Slams at the Australian Open and the US Open, with Alcaraz taking the French Open and the Wimbledon titles.
With the men's tennis world thus dominated in 2024 by these two, Wilander had no qualms making his bold claim in an interview with Eurosport, emphasizing that the duo are on pace to match the 'Big-3' levels of dominance.
“They are following in the footsteps of the 'Big-3' in terms of level. I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way anyone has ever played better tennis, that the tennis ball has done more different, complicated, difficult things than the ball is doing between Sinner and Alcaraz," Wilander said.
Touching on their China Open battle, Wilander marveled at the show put on by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, calling their clashes one of the 'absolute best' events in the history of sporting events.
“Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner put on such a great, entertaining show. To me, it's up there with the absolute best sporting events ever. It keeps happening every single time they play. They come up with suspense, they come up with entertainment," Wilander said.
"Neither of them are intimidated by the other person" - Mats Wilander on Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner battles
As for why Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner produce blockbuster tennis every time they face off, Mats Wilander believes that it is because neither is intimidated by the other player, allowing them to play their natural tennis without fear.
“What you see with them is that the match can go any direction. Either of them can win. Neither of them are intimidated by the other person. There are momentum changes in their matches just like any other tennis match, but they don't last that long. They last for five or ten minutes maximum, and then the other guy comes back and does something, and then he's back on top," Wilander said in the aforementioned interview.
Following the China Open, Alcaraz and Sinner will be in action next at the Shanghai Masters, alongside the likes of Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.