Patrick Mouratoglou has given his verdict on suggestions that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have taken tennis to a new level over the last couple of years.
Men’s tennis is emerging from a golden era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, with the ‘Big 3’ re-writing the record books and setting new marks that may never be matched.
Sinner and Alcaraz confirmed a new story is now being written at the top of the game after they shared the four Grand Slam titles between them in 2024.
Italian world No 1 Sinner claimed the Australian Open and US Open titles, as he clinched the first two major titles of his career.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz won his third and fourth Grand Slams by winning the French Open for the first time in June and backing up that win by retaining the Wimbledon in the following month.
Former world No 1 Mats Wilander is among those suggesting the new ‘Big 2’ in men’s tennis are playing at a level that is a step ahead of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
World No 6 Taylor Fritz then added considerable weight to the argument as he gave his personal view on Sinner and Alcaraz after facing the duo on several occasions over the last couple of years.
“One thing both of those guys do is… their defence is incredible,” Fritz told the Tennis Channel.
“Then when they are full on the run out in the corners, they just crush the ball. I can be in a backhand cross (court) rally with either one of them and if I hit a forehand, it’s got to be so good or else that next ball is getting just drilled huge cross court.
“They just play these lateral baseline points… like we used to see Nadal and Fed and most you saw Nadal and Novak have these long points, corner to corner.
“When Sinner and Alcaraz do it corner to corner, they have these same rallies but I swear they are hitting the ball ten miles an hour faster. It’s just crazy.”
Now celebrated coach Mouratoglou has given his verdict on the debate, as he suggested it is hard to separate the two top players in the men’s game as he spoke exclusively to Tennis365 ahead of the UTS Grand Final in London in December.
“I think they have completely different tennis, to put them in the same group (as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) is difficult,” Mouratoglou told us.
“Yes they are the two best by far at the moment and Carlos can do anything. Everything he does he does it perfectly. Forehand is unbelievable, backhand, I don’t see any weakness in that backhand.
“He can play flat, slice, his drop shots are incredible, his net play is incredible, he can serve and volley, he serves incredibly well for a guy of his height and physically he’s a beast.
“If you look at the package, it’s unbelievable, he almost has too many choices and sometimes he can lose his way, and he is super aggressive and he makes many more unforced errors than Sinner.
Then Sinner is a machine. He does less things and at the moment he’s trying to add new weapons to his game. He’s not as good as Carlos in many fields but what he does, he does is unbelievable.
“Taking time away from the opponent, taking the ball early, hitting the ball incredibly hard, with so much security because he doesn’t miss and movement is amazing, that’s crazy.
“That’s why those matches are so close because whenever Carlos drops a little bit, Sinner is always at the same level, from the start to the end.
“Do they hit the ball harder than the Big 3? Maybe, it’s possible, I wouldn’t define them like that. Alcaraz and Sinner are much more than just hitting the ball hard.”
Tennis is fortunate to have two new heroes ready to carry the sport into a new era, with the Sinner vs Alcaraz story offering the potential for a whole new golden era in the game.