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.”
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