Kafelnikov labels Sinner ‘one-dimensional’ as Alcaraz joins ranks of Big-3 legends

ATP
Monday, 28 October 2024 at 19:30
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Former world No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov criticised Jannik Sinner as a “one-dimensional player” and placed Carlos Alcaraz on par with the Big-3: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. The Russian former tennis star compared the Italian to two past players: Sweden’s Tomas Johansson and Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion commented that Sinner is designed to hit powerfully and is a modern version of former world No. 12 Hrbaty and 2002 Australian Open champion Johansson: “Sinner is a serial hitter, a high-level player but he is one-dimensional, that is, he lacks the versatility of play that characterises the great champions,” he said.
On the other hand, Kafelnikov made clear his preference for 4-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz: “I think that in terms of potential and talent Alcaraz is not inferior to Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. Sinner is another matter,” he commented. “He has a lot in his arsenal, he can play both attack and defence.”
Recently, Sinner faced criticism over his participation in the Six Kings Slam. After receiving the largest prize money in history, the world No. 1 mentioned, “I don’t play for the money,” and even Andy Roddick expressed disapproval that Sinner earned 25% of his career prize money in just three days at an exhibition.
“It’s very simple. Sure, $6 million is a lot of prize money, but I went to Riyadh because there were probably the six best players in the world, and you can compete with them,” Sinner said. “It was also a nice event; it was my first time in Riyadh, and it was very nice.”
“When you come back as a winner, for me it was more like saying: OK, I played the matches in the right way, and I hope this can improve me as a player for the future,” the 2-time Grand Slam champion said. “Of course money is important, but not that much. I live well even without money. What is much more important is my health, my family, and the fact that I am surrounded by the right people. Money is just an extra."

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