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Jamie Murray believes claims that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are a step or two ahead of the game’s all-time greats are premature.

Tennis greats from John McEnroe to Mats Wilander sparked a huge debate when they suggested the two players who have dominated the Grand Slam events over the last two years are playing at a higher level than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Murray’s younger brother Andy.

The quartet that dominated the men’s game for two decades won a staggering 69 Grand Slam titles between them, with Alcaraz and Sinner a long way behind the original ‘Big Four’ at the formative stage of their careers.

Now former doubles No 1 Murray, who announced his retirement from tennis last Tuesday, has insisted it is too early to place Alcaraz and Sinner among the game’s true legends.

“I would never say who is better or not, but until those guys [Alcaraz and Sinner] get up to 18, 19, 20 Grand Slams, it’s tough to say that those other guys [Big 4] weren’t the greatest,” said Murray on the latest edition of the Off Court with Greg Rusedski podcast, that will be released on Monday.

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“They’ve got the numbers to back it up. Is there a good chance they’ll catch them? Right now you have to say it is, but know, Alcaraz has seven right now.

“So he’s still 17 away from Novak. People think, oh yeah, but he can win three a year for the next, you know, five years. But that’s not easy to do that!

“There’s also players that we don’t know about that are going to come through and challenge those guys and you’ve got to stay fit and healthy and motivated. There’s so much that goes into it. I personally will be surprised if those guys play until they are 38, 39, 40. I don’t think they will do because of the nature of the tour now, but we’ll see.”

Former British No 1 Rusedski responded to Murray’s comments, as he suggested Alcaraz and Sinner still have so much to prove before they can match the ‘Big 4’.

“I think it’s an interesting conversation because the fact they’re on pace, especially Alcaraz to catch Novak,” he stated.

“Sinner reminds me of Djokovic 2.0. The guy just doesn’t miss and hits the ball harder than Novak and keeps on becoming complete.

“I think every generation gets a little bit better as a player just because you have better science, you have better technology, the game changes and shifts.

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“But I will always look at the numbers and winning as many Grand Slams as Djokovic, Nadal and Federer will not be easy. For me, Novak will always be the GOAT until someone wins more Grand Slams than him.

“Alcaraz and Sinner could do that, but they need to carry on winning at the rate they have done over the last couple of years for the next ten years at least.”

READ NEXT: Jannik Sinner backed to ‘win more Grand Slams’ than Carlos Alcaraz by former top 20 player

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Ben Shelton overcame Flavio Cobolli in straight sets to win the 2026 BMW Open in Munich, but how many ranking points and how much prize money did the pair collect?

World No 6 Shelton defeated 16th-ranked Cobolli 6-2, 7-5 in the final in Munich to claim his maiden ATP 500 title on clay and second clay-court title overall.

Shelton’s first title at the Bavarian International Tennis Championships comes after he was a runner-up to Alexander Zverev at last year’s event.

The American has now won five ATP Tour singles titles — three of which have come at ATP 500 level.

The 23-year-old also downed Alex Molcan, Joao Fonseca, Alexander Blockx and Emilio Nava en route to the title.

Cobolli, who was chasing his fourth ATP singles title and third 500 crown, beat Zverev, Vit Kopriva, Zizou Bergs and Diego Dedura to reach the final.

Shelton saved all six of the break points he faced, which were all in his opening service game, while he broke Cobolli twice in the first set and once in a much closer second set.

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Shelton and Cobolli’s ranking points from Munich

Shelton collected 500 ATP ranking points for his triumph in Munich, which has lifted his points total to 4,070 and leaves him sixth in the rankings — just 30 points adrift of world No 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Cobolli earned 330 points for his runner-up result, which has taken his points total to 2,600 and lifted him three places to world No 13.

Munich ATP ranking points breakdown

Winner: 500 points
Finalist: 330 points
Semi-finalist: 200 points
Quarter-finalist: 100 points
Second Round: 50 points
First Round: 0 points

Shelton and Cobolli’s prize money from Munich

Shelton’s victory has seen him secure €478,935 ($559,216) in prize money, while Cobolli has claimed €257,705 ($300,903).

Munich prize money breakdown

Winner: €478,935 ($559,216)
Finalist: €257,705 ($300,903)
Semi-finalist: €137,340 ($160,362)
Quarter-finalist: €70,165 ($81,926)
Second Round: €37,455 ($43,733)
First Round: €19,975 ($23,323)

What did Shelton say after the final?

In his on-court interview, Shelton said: “I came out at a really high level and have done that before against him.

“The toughest thing is maintaining it as he raises his level. I managed to do that in the second set and played some great tennis.

“I am happy with my performance this week. I got better and better as the week went on and I am happy with the work me and the team put in.

“I have big ambitions for the clay courts. It is a surface I want to get better on each year. It is slowly becoming one of my favourite surfaces to play on.”

READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz told he may have a ‘problem’ after injury blow as mistake highlighted by ex-world No 4

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Who’d have thought Ben Shelton would find his feet on clay courts?

The big serving American would be expected to thrive on faster surfaces and even though he has a title on his record from his win in the ATP 250 event in Houston in 2024, his 6-2, 7-5 victory over fourth seed Flavio Cobolli in Munich was a significant victory.

This was his first ATP 500 win on clay, as he became the first American to win a title on the surface above ATP 250 level since Agassi in Rome in 2002.

“I have big ambitions for the clay courts,” said Shelton.

“It is a surface I want to get better on each year. It is slowly becoming one of my favourite surfaces to play on.”

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The win fired Shelton up to No 6 in the live ATP Rankings and he could not push to try and break into the top four ahead of the French Open and Wimbledon.

He still has Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic ahead of him in the rankings for now, but if he can continue his good form on clay in the Madrid and Rome Masters events, Shelton could be knocking on the door of a place in the top four of the rankings for the first time.

That would ensure he doesn’t need to face top ranked players Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz until the semi-final at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and could open the door for more progress for the No 1-ranked American.

“I came out at a really high level and have done that before against him,” Shelton said after his win in Munich.

“The toughest thing is maintaining it as he raises his level. I managed to do that in the second set and played some great tennis.

“I am happy with my performance this week. I got better and better as the week went on and I am happy with the work my team put in.”

He also had words for Cobilli, who beat local favourite Alexander Zverev in the semi-final in Munich.

“I wanna congratulate Flavio. I know this was an emotional week for you. Some of the tennis you were coming up with was outstanding,” he added.

“Your match yesterday was a privilege to watch. I’m sorry for saying that, guys. The work you and your team do, always smiling, playing football.

“You’re a big personality. A big reason our game is growing. To see you guys out here always makes me smile.”

If Shelton can thrive on clay courts, he will be well placed to make that huge serve count in the second half of the season on grass and his favoured hard courts.

So while Shelton has taken time to confirm he can compete with Sinner and Alcaraz for the biggest prizes, the confidence he will get from this latest clay court will will boost his ambitions.

READ NEXT: Learner Tien signals changing of the guard in American tennis with big win

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The number of players to withdraw from the 2026 Madrid Open has risen to 17 across both the women’s and men’s singles tournaments.

By Saturday, 13 players had pulled out of the Madrid Open, with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic the biggest names to withdraw.

Since then, four women have joined the list, including former Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova and Emma Raducanu.

The combined event in Madrid is the first clay-court WTA 1000 of the season and second clay-court ATP 1000 after Monte Carlo.

Both the ATP and WTA tournaments in Madrid feature 96 players, including 32 seeds — who receive an opening round bye.

Main draw action in the women’s event will begin on Tuesday, while the men’s tournament will get underway on Wednesday. The women’s singles final will be played on Saturday 2 May before the men’s singles final on Sunday 3 May.

Aryna Sabalenka and Casper Ruud are the reigning Madrid Open champions.

ATP Madrid Open withdrawal list

Alcaraz, the world No 2 and a two-time Madrid Open winner, will miss the event in the Spanish capital for the second straight year after he suffered a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open.

World No 4 Djokovic, a three-time champion in Madrid, pulled out as he revealed he is continuing his recovery from a shoulder injury. The Serb has played just two tournaments in 2026.

Taylor Fritz, who is yet to play on clay this year, is the other top 10 ATP player to withdraw.

• Carlos Alcaraz (world No 2) – replaced by Sebastian Ofner
• Novak Djokovic (world No 4) – replaced by Adam Walton
• Taylor Fritz (world No 8) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
• Holger Rune (world No 27) – replaced by Francisco Comesana
• Sebastian Korda (world No 43) – replaced by Alexander Shevchenko
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (world No 53) – replaced by Alexandre Muller
• Arthur Cazaux (world No 71) – replaced by Alexander Blockx
• Kamil Majchrzak (world No 73) – replaced by Thiago Agustin Tirante

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WTA Madrid Open withdrawal list

Reports have emerged that 2021 US Open winner Raducanu, who has not played since Indian Wells, has withdrawn from the Madrid Open.

Two-time major champion Krejcikova, Sara Bejlek and McCartney Kessler are the other WTA players in the latest cohort of withdrawals.

• Emma Navarro (world No 27) – replaced by Ashlyn Krueger
• Emma Raducanu (world No 29) – replaced by Ajla Tomljanovic
• Maya Joint (world No 30) – replaced by Moyuka Uchijima
• Sara Bejlek (world No 34) – replaced by Viktorija Golubic
• McCartney Kessler (world No 48) – replaced by Kamilla Rakhimova
• Barbora Krejcikova (world No 52) – replaced by Zeynep Sonmez
• Sonay Kartal (world No 55) – replaced by Petra Marcinko
• Varvara Gracheva (world No 59) – replaced by Eva Lys
• Veronika Kudermetova (world No 62) – replaced by Taylor Townsend

READ NEXT: Zverev upset, Swiatek ‘figuring out’ coach link, Toni Nadal assesses Fonseca – Tennis roundup

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Elena Ryabkina has extended her rankings lead over Coco Gauff as the world No 2 after defeating Mirra Andreeva to reach the Stuttgart Open final.

The Kazakh reeled off eight of the final nine games against the world No 9 to claim a 7-5, 6-1 victory.

It is Rybakina’s first victory against the Russian since 2023 after losing both of their 2025 encounters – in Dubai and Indian Wells.

The match also came shortly after her late-night thriller against Leylah Fernandez, which finished close to midnight.

“First set, we were going pretty even,” the world no 2 commented during her on-court interview.

“I had some opportunities to go up but didn’t take them. But I’m happy that in these important moments, my serve worked and I stayed aggressive.

“Then in the second set being up, I was more free to hit, to step in, to play even more aggressive.

“So I’m pretty happy with the performance. It was really solid. And I guess the three-hour match yesterday, it did help me today.”

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She will next face Karolina Muchova, who battled past Elina Svitolina 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to snap a three-match losing streak against the Ukrainian.

The Stuttgart Open marks Rybakina’s third final of 2026, having also reached the showpiece match at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.

Muchova holds a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head, with all three encounters coming on hard courts.

The Czech was also victorious in their most recent meeting, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at the Brisbane International in January.

“I thought it was working, so I was trying to – that’s what exactly happened in the second set,” Muchova commented during her post-match press conference.

“I think I kind of start to play the way she likes to play and play the long rallies.

“Then I just realized, ‘okay, I have to again be more aggressive and try to approach the net or change the rhythm.’ I think that’s the way that it’s good for me to play against her.”

As a result of reaching the final, Rybakina is confirmed to gain at least 217 ranking points and is sitting on 8325 points in the Live WTA Rankings.

This extends her lead over world No 3 Gauff, who fell in the quarter-finals of the event to Muchova, to 1,047 points.

However, Rybakina remains 2,570 ranking points behind world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Live WTA Rankings.

If the Kazakh were to win the final and lift the trophy in Stuttgart, she would gain another 175 points, extending her lead over Gauff to 1,222.

In more positive news for Rybakina, she is not defending any ranking points at the Madrid Masters, having already counted her sixth-best WTA 1000 result of 65 points – higher than her 2025 tally in the Spanish capital.

Meanwhile, world No 3 Gauff is defending 650 points, while world No 1 Sabalenka is defending the maximum 1,000 points after having lifted the trophy.

The WTA Madrid Masters will take place from April 22 – May 2.

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Alexander Zverev’s difficult 2026 season continued with a disappointing semi-final defeat to Flavio Cobolli at the ATP 500 event in Munich, a result that will see him drop 300 ranking points.

The German had produced a successful Sunshine Double and Monte Carlo, reaching the last four and losing to Jannik Sinner in straight sets at each.

However, on Saturday, he fell to Cobolli 6-3, 6-3 after being broken on three occasions and winning just 30% of his second-serve points.

Zverev put much of the blame for the loss on his packed schedule and hopes to make the most of his days off, prior to the Madrid Masters, remarking: “I have played a lot of tennis lately and my legs just weren’t there anymore. A few days off will definitely help.”

The second clay-court Masters 1000 event will take place from April 22 – May 3 in the Spanish capital.

Meanwhile, Cobolli was overcome with emotion after his victory, laying down 32 winners and losing just eight points on his first serve.

“It was one of my best matches ever, against one of my best friends on Tour,” said the Italian during his post-match interview.

“He’s a really good guy and we have a good relationship with everyone on his team, so it was a little bit tough to play against him.

“But today I think I played one of my best matches, and I’m really happy about my performance.”

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Prior to the clash, Cobolli had lost all five of his contested sets against the German with both of those meetings coming in 2025.

Additionally, he was 1-16 against top-10 players heading into the match with the only victory coming against world No 9 Holger Rune via retirement at the Madrid Masters.

As a result of the loss, Zverev drops 300 points in the rankings – after gaining 500 points from last year’s Munich title run.

This places the German on 5255 points in the Live ATP Rankings, just 545 points ahead of world No 4 Novak Djokovic.

The Serb has competed in just two events since October – the Australian Open and Indian Wells Masters – recently withdrawing from the Madrid Masters.

It is unclear when the 24-time Grand Slam champion will return to the tour, having also skipped the Italian Open last season and, instead, opting to play in the Geneva Open – where he won his 100^th singles title.

Meanwhile, Alcaraz will drop 280 ranking points after having withdrawn from the Barcelona Open after having played just one match.

This extends the gap between Zverev and the world’s top two to 7705 ranking points.

In the quarter-finals, the world No 3 had beaten the tough Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in three sets and was clearly impressed by his performance.

“I thought it was an incredible level,” said Zverev after that victory.

“Even in the first set when I was up 4-1, he started playing unbelievable. He started returning unbelievable.

“My first-serve percentage was very high, and he started returning a foot in front of the baseline. So there was nothing I could do, to be honest. I was happy with my level even in the first set.

“Definitely happy to get the win today against Francisco, for the first time on clay.”

The post Alexander Zverev’s struggles highlighted by small rankings lead over ‘inactive’ Djokovic after latest loss appeared first on Tennis365.

Iga Swiatek’s wait for a semi-final appearance at a WTA Tour event in 2026 continues after Mirra Andreeva ended her Stuttgart Open run in the last eight.

The six-time Grand Slam winner overcame a sluggish start to the match as she lost her serve in the opening game, but then broke twice to take the first set, before Andreeva edged the break count 3-2 in the second to take it to a decider where two more breaks secured the 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.

Swiatek had also lost in the quarter-final of the Australian Open, Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open while she was upset by fellow Pole Magda Linette in the second round of the Miami Open.

The Miami Open was her last tournament with Wim Fissette as her coach, as she split with the Belgian after her exit, before appointing Francisco Roig a few weeks later.

Having spent just over a week training with Roig at the Rafa Nadal Academy ahead of Stuttgart, Swiatek admitted in her post-match press conference that they still have work ahead.

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Q: Iga, I guess just talk us through your thoughts on the match and immediate reaction, please.

IGA SWIATEK: “Yeah, I mean, not the result I wanted, for sure. I think my baseline game was fine, and I see a progress there comparing to the last tournaments.

“But for sure, overall, it wasn’t enough. So, yeah.”

Q: A small sample size of two matches working with Francis. Curious, just based off the few matches with him being in your box, how do you think it worked in terms of on-court coaching and things like that and how it could help going to Madrid and Rome?

IGA SWIATEK: “I think for now, you know, we’re getting to know each other. He’s giving me space to kind of figure it out on matches. You know, I have a clear vision of what to do. It’s just sometimes hard to do that. That wasn’t like a main thing today, I would say.”

Q: I think the level was very high from both players, you and Mirra. I just wonder if you saw which kind of, that you’re trying to implement some aspect in your game, which one can be the most, I don’t know, the most positive information that you can take from this match?

IGA SWIATEK: “Yeah, I think, you know, there were moments where I felt like I was playing better, for sure, than other moments where I dropped the level. She played better for a while, so I think these parts of the match that I played well, I felt like, you know, full control over what’s going on. So this is something positive. You just need to keep that towards the end of the match.

“I think the baseline game was, you know, it made sense. I felt like I kind of knew what I was doing, and this is something positive, because honestly, for, you know, previous matches, it wasn’t always like that.

“I think I returned the first serve of her pretty well, looking at the speed and everything. So these are the positives.”

Q: Thank you for coming after this kind of defeat. It’s a sign of respect for us, so thank you for being here. In the decisive, you had 2-Love and then a breakpoint, I guess, you remember the moment. What happened afterwards? Because it was five games for her. It was a landslide. Did she change something, or it was your fault for that?

IGA SWIATEK: “Honestly, to judge properly, I will have to watch. From my point of view, for sure I didn’t feel super confident on my serve, so I felt like I could serve more precise, and sometimes, you know, I wanted to, like, make the same serves as in first set, but they flew in a different place, like closer to her, so it didn’t make sense that much.

“I feel like – yeah, I would need to honestly watch, because besides that, I felt like I maintained the level from the baseline, but, you know, it was already, like, a long match, so I will need to, you know, see closer, and yeah, just watch.”

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Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are the highest-profile players to withdraw from the Madrid Open, but the list continues to grow with a few more players likely to join them before the tournament gets underway.

The joint ATP-WTA 1000 event in the Spanish capital starts on 21 April with the women’s first-round matches before the men kick off their campaign the following day.

Casper Ruud is the defending champion as he won his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title 12 months ago when he defeated Jack Draper in the final on the clay at Caja Magica while Aryna Sabalenka won her third title in Madrid with victory over Coco Gauff.

But tournament organisers have suffered a couple of devastating blows as two-time champion and local hero Alcaraz won’t be in the main draw as he has been sidelined by an arm injury he sustained at the Barcelona Open.

Alcaraz was going to be the big drawcard for Spaniards, but he will now miss the tournament for the second consecutive year and his withdrawal came just hours after tennis great Djokovic also confirmed he won’t participate.

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Djokovic, a three-time winner of the Madrid Open, announced, “I’m continuing my recovery” with the number of ATP stars to pull out currently sitting at eight.

Jannik Sinner is set to be the top seed, although there are still doubts over his participation, and he will be followed by Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton, according to the latest Live Rankings.

ATP Madrid Open withdrawal list

• Carlos Alcaraz (world No 2) – replaced by Sebastian Ofner
• Novak Djokovic (world No 4) – replaced by Adam Walton
• Taylor Fritz (world No 8) – replaced by Roberto Bautista Agut
• Holger Rune (world No 27) – replaced by Francisco Comesana
• Sebastian Korda (world No 43) – replaced by Alexander Shevchenko
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (world No 53) – replaced by Alexandre Muller
• Arthur Cazaux (world No 71) – replaced by Alexander Blockx
• Kamil Majchrzak (world No 73) – replaced by Thiago Agustin Tirante

2025 runner-up Draper is another player who could miss the tournament as he was forced to retire from his first-round match at Barcelona due to a knee injury.

WTA Madrid Open withdrawal list

The WTA main draw remains strong as the top 20 players are still on the entry list as Sabalenka is set to defend her title with Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula completing the top five.

Emma Navarro and Maya Joint are so far the only two seeded players who have withdrawn from the first clay-court WTA 1000 event of the 2026 season.

• Emma Navarro (world No 27) – replaced by Ashlyn Krueger
• Maya Joint (world No 30) – replaced by Moyuka Uchijima
• Sonay Kartal (world No 55) – replaced by Petra Marcinko
• Varvara Gracheva (world No 59) – replaced by Eva Lys
• Veronika Kudermetova (world No 62) – replaced by Taylor Townsend

Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, currently at No 42 in the rankings, is also set to join the list as she has been charged by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) with refusing a doping test.

The Czech has not played any WTA Tour events since January, but her withdrawal is yet to be confirmed by organisers.

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Jannik Sinner returned to the top spot in the ATP Rankings last week after overtaking Carlos Alcaraz and now has an opportunity to increase his lead.

At the beginning of March, Sinner found himself 3,150 points behind his Spanish rival in the rankings with Alcaraz dominating the first two months of the year with back-to-back titles at the Australian Open and Qatar Open.

But the Italian has wiped out that advantage as he has won three consecutive ATP Masters 1000 titles, earning a maximum of 3,000 points as he didn’t have any points to defend from 2025 while Alcaraz dropped points in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo.

On the back of his Monte Carlo Masters title run, Sinner started this week with a 110-point lead over the seven-time Grand Slam winner as the Italian had 13,350 points compared to his rival’s 13,240.

But that lead grew to 390 points this week without Sinner lifting a finger as Alcaraz’s withdrawal from the Barcelona Open meant he was unable to defend his 330 points from his runners-up finish 12 months ago.

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And the Spaniard has suffered another setback as the wrist injury will also keep him out of action from next week’s Madrid Open, giving Sinner a chance to widen the gap at the top.

“Madrid is like home to me – one of the most special stops on the calendar – and that’s why it hurts so much not to be able to play here for the second year in a row,” Alcaraz said in a statement.

“It’s especially painful not to be there in front of my fans at such an important tournament.”

Rankings Impact

As Alcaraz mentioned, he will miss the ATP 1000 event on home soil for consecutive years so, on the upside, he doesn’t have any points to defend from 2025.

But on the other side of the coin, Sinner also doesn’t have any points to defend as he also didn’t feature 12 months ago as the Madrid Open was the last tournament he missed following his three-month ban.

The four-time Grand Slam winner is also yet to confirm if he will compete in the Spanish capital this year, as his team believe the Italian Open and French Open are more important, with Italian media reporting he will only make a decision later on Saturday.

If Sinner does indeed take part in the Madrid Open, then he has the potential to open a lead of more than 1,390 points over Alcaraz with a title run.

That would mean he would keep the No 1 ranking going into the French Open and he will also be the favourite to be top of the rankings after Roland Garros as Alcaraz is the defending champion while Sinner will drop 650 points after finishing runner-up.

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