Tennis legend John McEnroe created a big stir when he suggested Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner could have beaten a prime Rafael Nadal at the French Open, but Stefanos Tsitsipas has suggested that comment was not misplaced.
McEnroe admiration for Alcaraz and Sinner saw him claim the duo may have had a chance to dethrone the 14-time Roland Garros champion on a court he made his own, in comments that sparked a huge debate among tennis fans.
“You would make a serious argument with both guys that they would be favoured to beat Nadal, at his best,” the American said on TNT Sports. “The tennis level right now is higher than I’ve ever seen.”
The notion that the greatest clay court player of all-time would have met his match against Alcaraz and Sinner was given some credence when the two young guns at the top of the men’s game contested an epic Roland Garros final earlier this month.
Yet the idea that Nadal’s Roland Garros levels have already been bettered by the players currently holding the top two positions in men’s tennis is hard to imagine when we are talking about a player who has a statue to mark his greatness at the Paris venue.
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Several leading names have dismissed McEnroe’s comments, but former French Open finalist Tsitsipas has told Tennis365 that they carry plenty of weight.
Having played against Nadal, Alcaraz and Sinner on clay court, the Greek star is in a great position to evaluate McEnroe’s statement and his verdict may be seen as a surprise.
Speaking exclusively to Tennis365 at the launch of Adidas’ The London Originals Collection at a lavish pre-Wimbledon barbecue in London, he joined the debate on the level being produced by Alcaraz and Sinner as he compared them to the most successful clay court player of all-time.
“I have played both of them,” Tsitsipas told Tennis365 as he spoke about Alcaraz and Sinner. “Both of them are great ball strikers, both on clay and hard, but I would favour, as a creative player more, more of a creative player on clay, I would favour Carlos.
“I feel like he has way more options when he plays and it’s quite evident and clear. I mean, it’s not something absurd. And I would favour obviously Sinner on hard courts.
“So I would give Carlos more chances on Nadal on clay. If I have to bet my money somewhere.”
He went on to add: “I feel like Carlos would have chances against prime Nadal on clay. I think so. I’m not saying he would have beaten him, but he would have had chances to create something special against him.”
Tsitsipas went on to suggest the emergence of Alcaraz and Sinner should not be a surprise as he predicts more names will join them at the top of the game in the coming years.
“It’s not annoying that these two guys are playing so well,” he added. “This is what you expect. It’s going to keep happening that we have new champions, new stars. It’s going to keep happening.
“It’s part of the circle of the game and how things work. I’m telling you, in the next five years, we’ll see more superstars enter the game and more players that have a different identity from those that are playing now.”
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