“I’m not sure you would have beaten them”: Patrick Mouratoglou defends modern top-10 after Tsonga’s remarks over Sinner-Alcaraz dominance

Former Serena Williams coach Patrick Mouratoglou pushed back against recent comments made by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who questioned the level of competition faced by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner compared to the rivals of the Big Three era.

Speaking on the Univers Tennis podcast a couple of months ago, Tsonga compared the generation of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with the current rivals faced by Sinner and Alcaraz. The former world No. 3 argued that today’s top two have not had to overcome opponents of the same calibre to win their major titles.

“What I would have liked to see is Alcaraz win Roland Garros by beating [Juan Martin] Del Potro in the third round, [Andy] Murray in the fourth round, Djokovic in the quarter-finals, Federer in the semi-finals and Nadal in the final,” said the 2008 Australian Open runner-up. “That’s what I would have liked to see in real life, because today he dominates head and shoulders.”

However, Tsonga’s remarks did not find universal agreement in the tennis world. Mouratoglou — who has also worked with players such as Holger Rune, Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka — insisted that the current top 10 cannot yet be compared to players from two decades ago, especially considering their careers are still being written. He even suggested that Tsonga himself might not have been able to consistently beat today’s top players.

“I don’t agree with what Jo said. I don’t believe at all that the guys he’s talking about — Draper, Rune, De Minaur, Fritz, Shelton, Auger-Aliassime — are not very good or not dangerous,” Mouratoglou said. “They’re huge players. I’m sorry Jo, but I’m not sure you would have beaten them on a regular basis.”

“He is referring to Wawrinka and Del Potro, who are unbelievable players for sure. But you see how unbelievable they were throughout the course of their careers. At 29 years old, Stan Wawrinka was a good player, nothing else. At 31, he was a three-time Grand Slam winner. Of course, players who have completed their careers have more titles and potentially a few Grand Slams when others don’t.”

Tsonga finished six seasons inside the top 10 and spent a total of ten years inside the top 15. Retired since 2022, the Frenchman won two Masters 1000 titles — Paris (2008) and the Canadian Open (2014) — and reached additional finals in Paris (2011) and Shanghai (2015).

A contemporary of the Big Three, Tsonga faced each of them multiple times. He played Novak Djokovic 23 times, posting a 6–17 record, including a loss in the 2008 Australian Open final. He went 6–12 against Roger Federer and 4–10 against Rafael Nadal. Tsonga is also one of only three players — alongside Wawrinka and Del Potro — to defeat all three members of the Big Three while they were reigning world No. 1.

Over his career, Tsonga recorded 45 wins against top-10 opponents and claimed 18 ATP titles, highlighted by his two Masters 1000 trophies. At Grand Slam level, he compiled a 121–47 record, reaching at least the quarter-finals of each major. In total, he made 15 quarter-final appearances, reached one final at the 2008 Australian Open, and played five semi-finals across Melbourne, Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

While many of those defeats came at the hands of the Big Three, Mouratoglou pointed out that Alcaraz and Sinner were the players who ultimately dethroned Djokovic, even after the Serb enjoyed remarkable late-career success, including three Grand Slam titles in 2023.

“And don’t forget that Alcaraz and Sinner beat Djokovic when he already had 23 Grand Slams to start winning majors,” Mouratoglou said, recalling the 2023 Wimbledon final. “When Novak won three out of four Grand Slams and made the final of the fourth, he lost that one to Alcaraz. I don’t believe that saying Sinner and Alcaraz are winning so much because of the level of the other top-10 players gives them the credit they deserve. Their level is unbelievable.”

Mouratoglou insisted that Alcaraz’s and Sinner’s dominance is not due to weaker opposition, but rather to the extraordinary level both have reached. “Those who think that Alcaraz and Sinner dominate the game because their opponents are weaker than those of the Big Three will always find me in their way,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest misunderstandings about today’s tennis.”

In the comments section, former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Chris Eubanks — who retired in 2025 — voiced his support for Mouratoglou’s stance. “100% agree with you here,” Eubanks wrote. “We can’t act like the level has ONLY gotten better at the top and the guys just below that level have somehow gotten worse. The level is higher all throughout the tour.”