Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will contest their third straight Grand Slam final at the US Open on Sunday, with former world No 1 Mats Wilander among those questioning whether their rivalry is in danger of becoming repetitive.
In a truly sensational contest in the French Open final between the duo in June, Alcaraz fought off match points before finding a way to win against his great rival.
Sinner gained swift revenge as he beat Alcaraz to win his first Wimbledon title a few weeks after that Paris epic and now the best two players in the world will meet again in the US Open final.
A new era of Sinner vs Alcaraz finally is well underway, with former US Open champion Wilander insisting sports fans around the world are not growing tired of watching two players contest all the big finals.
“I don’t see it as boring because every time Sinner and Alcaraz play a final, I am expecting something very special,” said Wilander, as he prepares to lead Eurosport’s commentary team for this weekend’s US Open.
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“The reason why I believe Sinner and Alcaraz are so far ahead of the rest in the men’s game is that they are so complete.
“They are playing our game in a different style than two or three years ago.
“If you look back to that period, we had Daniil Medvedev maybe as the best hard court player in the world for a period of time.
“Then you compare to the pace of play and the speed Jannik Sinner is playing at and there is a big different. Sinner doesn’t wait for anything to come to him. He goes to the ball, attacks it and puts his opponents under pressure.
“The same with Alcaraz. He waits for nothing. He attacks every ball and you just feel there is no time to rest.
“Compare this to Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev or Medvedev and they often wait for the ball to come to them.
“We don’t see that with Sinner and Alcaraz. They are just much more aggressive than the other players and not just some of the time. All of the time.
“They are just more aggressive and until someone comes along to match them, they will be hard to beat. The style of tennis they are playing now is just so hard to stop.”
Wilander went on to suggest the tennis served up by Sinner and Alcaraz in their epic French Open final earlier this year was the best he has ever seen, in comments that suggest the new ‘Big 2’ in men’s tennis are playing at a better level than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic when they were at their peak.
“In terms of the level of the play, tennis has never been played at a higher level than the French Open Final this year was played,” he added.
“That match has put a lot of pressure and expectations on both Sinner and Alcaraz for them to be able to do that again and again because that’s what it’s going to take for them to become more important than Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.
“I think for the next few Grand Slams, we are going to be talking about Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, but are they able to dominate the way they did at the French Open, at Wimbledon, and make it to the finals every time?
“I believe we’re seeing two players that will fight for probably 15 Grand Slam finals before they’re done, at least. They’re that good. And at the moment, they’re that much better than everybody else.”
The next chapter in the Sinner vs Alcaraz rivalry is upon us and no tennis fan is feeling we have got anywhere near saturation point yet with these two titans of the sport.
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