Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner ‘following in the footsteps of the Big Three’ claims former World No.1
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been heavily praised by seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander, who claims that at their best level there is ‘no way anyone has ever played better tennis’
Alcaraz and Sinner competed against one another in the Beijing final, with the former obtaining the victory after nearly three-and-a-half hours.
This was their third meeting of 2024, with Alcaraz winning all of those matches, despite World No.1 Sinner only losing six matches in the entirety of this year.
And when speaking to Eurosport, Wilander waxed lyrical about the final at the China Open and their rivalry as a whole.
“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,” Wilander told Eurosport. “It keeps happening every single time they play. They come up with suspense, they come up with entertainment.”
The Swede continued, “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 went onto draw comparisons to ‘The Big Three’ of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, implying that Alcaraz and Sinner’s top level is higher.
“They are following in the footsteps of the ‘Big Three’ in terms of level,” claimed Wildander. “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.”
the kids are alright pic.twitter.com/IBk5wIrJWd
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 2, 2024
Alcaraz and Sinner will return to action on Saturday at the Shanghai Masters, with both players needing to reach the semi-finals to play one another again.
Inside the baseline…
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s matches are always a treat, and many are hoping for many Grand Slam finals between the pair. As much as it seems inevitable for that to happen, there is a bit of a cloud over that at the moment with the WADA appeal currently hanging over Sinner. As much as Alcaraz and Sinner do have the level to compete as high as ‘The Big Three’, it also does feel a bit early to compare the rivalries just yet.
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