Renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou has argued that Carlos Alcaraz must improve his serve and return as he described Jannik Sinner’s dominance in these two areas as “something new in tennis history.”
Sinner topped the ATP Tour leaderboards for both serve and return statistics in 2025, with Alcaraz 10th in the serve rankings and second for return.
The serve rating takes into account first serve percentage, first serve points won, second serve points won, percentage of service games won, and the average number of aces and double faults hit per match.
The return rating incorporates first serve return points won, second serve return points won, percentage of return games won and percentage of break points converted.
Sinner leads the tour for first serve points won (79.5%), second serve points won (59.1%), and most significantly, percentage of service games won (92%).
The Italian is also top for percentage of return games won (32.6%) and second serve return points won (57.8%), while he is third for first serve return points won (33.6%), behind Alcaraz (35.0%) and Mariano Navone (34.0%).
Sinner defeated Alcaraz 7-6(4), 7-5 in the final of the ATP Finals in Turin, which was the last match of the 2025 campaign for both players.
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In a post on his LinkedIn account, Mouratoglou identified the difference between Alcaraz and Sinner in Turin as he looked ahead to 2026.
“Carlos wasn’t at his absolute best this week,” Mouratoglou wrote.
“Too many unforced errors with the backhand. Moments of lost focus on the forehand. Maybe end-of-season fatigue, maybe simply not the same confidence indoors.
“But the answer is clear: If he wants to dominate 2026, improvements must start with the first two shots, serve and return.
“Because Jannik is currently No 1 in the world in serve+1 AND return+1. That’s unique. We’ve had players dominate one side of that equation, Roger on serve+1, Rafa and Novak on the return, but never both. This is something new in tennis history.
“2025 gave us the rivalry we hoped for. Six finals this season. Four on the biggest stages. Two legends in the making, pushing each other to evolve every month. Carlos finishes as World No 1. Jannik finishes with the Nitto Finals title, and the momentum. 2026 already looks incredible.”
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