Former Wimbledon champion and Rotterdam Open tournament director Richard Krajicek has hailed the “unbelievable” rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
World No 1 Alcaraz and No 2 Sinner have been the dominant players on the ATP Tour recently, and the pair have now won the last nine Grand Slam men’s singles titles between them.
Alcaraz’s recent Australian Open triumph came after he and Sinner had won two Grand Slam titles each in both 2024 and 2025, and the pair are the heavy favourites for the remaining three major events in 2026.
Last year also saw the Spaniard and Italian meet in the final of the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, marking the first time in the Open Era that two men had met in three major finals in the same season.
Alcaraz and Sinner are well ahead of their contemporaries in the ATP Rankings, and their dominance comes directly after the historic era led by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Many thought that, following the end of the ‘Big 3’ era, the men’s game would be more open for a few years, with an array of different Grand Slam singles champions crowned.
However, that has ultimately proven to be far from the truth, with Alcaraz and Sinner rarely allowing any other opponent a chance of Grand Slam glory.
1996 Wimbledon champion and former world No 4 Krajicek was among those who questioned the future of men’s tennis after Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.
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And, speaking to Bolavip, the Dutchman hailed the emergence of Alcaraz and Sinner’s rivalry as a major positive for the sport.
He said: “Alcaraz and Sinner are both unbelievable players, and they have an unbelievable rivalry. I certainly didn’t expect this to happen to tennis after Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. It is like a miracle.
“Of course, we still have Djokovic left. I want to say this is his last year, but with him you never know, probably he has three years left in him. But I was starting to think about what tennis is going to look like, even being a bit worried, and then these two guys arrived on the stage.
“Of course, they are very different. Alcaraz is very outgoing and has a lot of variety, whereas Sinner is more introverted and disciplined.
“Both of them are so popular and are playing amazing tennis, so I never expected this to happen so quickly after the Big Three.”
As the Rotterdam Open tournament director, Krajicek has had the opportunity to work with Alcaraz and Sinner and see them close up in recent years.
Sinner lifted the title at the indoor ATP 500 event in 2024, defeating Alex de Minaur in the final, while Alcaraz beat de Minaur in the final to lift the title in 2025.
The world No 1 was initially set to return to defend his title this week, though he withdrew following his successful Australian Open campaign.
Alcaraz and Sinner are both set to return to action at the Qatar Open next week.
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