Former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd has revealed the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner leaves him “concerned” about unbalanced draws at the Grand Slams.
The past two seasons of ATP Tour action have seen world No 1 Alcaraz and world No 2 Sinner separate themselves from the rest of the men’s game, splitting the last eight Grand Slam titles between them.
Both men won two Grand Slam titles each in both 2024 and 2025, and while just 550 points separate the two in the ATP Rankings, a staggering 6,340 points split world No 2 Sinner from world No 3 Alexander Zverev.
While several potential rivals for both Alcaraz and Sinner have been named in recent months, so far few players have been able to make a consistent impact and rival them.
Events in which both men have either not been in action or have exited early — for one reason or another — have produced a string of surprise champions, most notably Valentin Vacherot winning the Shanghai Masters and Jakub Mensik winning the Miami Open.
That has not proven to be the case at the Grand Slams, with Alcaraz and Sinner meeting in the final of the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in 2025.
It was the first time in the Open Era that the same two men had met in three major finals in the same year, and more Grand Slam final clashes between the two are expected in 2026.
However, should one of them suffer a shock exit or an injury at a major, it would potentially open the door for a wide range of players — with apparently little separating their ATP contemporaries.
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Speaking on the Inside-In Tennis Podcast, former player Lloyd expressed his concern that such a scenario would leave a Slam feeling uncompetitive, with one of Alcaraz or Sinner perceived as a de facto champion without their main rival present.
“I am a little bit concerned about next year,” said Lloyd.
“You always think that someone is going to come through and challenge, but at the moment I look at Slams — because that is the bread and butter of our sport — and I look at it and think if one of them at one of the majors, which will happen at one stage, gets injured or gets a day where someone plays lights out.
“You are going to have such a weak half of the draw in terms of names. You almost feel like you might as well give it to the other one right away.
“At the Slams, you want it to be competitive all the way through, but these two have just separated themselves. It’s amazing to watch how great they are.”
Alcaraz and Sinner met six times in total across the year, with all of their encounters coming in finals.
Sinner won their final clash of 2025, with the Italian defeating his Spanish rival at the ATP Finals to successfully defend his title in Turin.
However, it was Alcaraz who held a 4-2 head-to-head advantage for the year, and now leads their overall head-to-head 10-6.
The two will contest an exhibition match in South Korea next January, but the next chance for the pair to meet at an official tournament will be the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of 2025.
Alcaraz enters the tournament looking to complete the Career Grand Slam, while Sinner will look to become just the second man in the Open Era to win three straight titles in Melbourne.
Read Next: The defining ATP Tour rivalries of 2025 – ft. Alcaraz, Sinner, Medvedev, Zverev
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