"Tennis is in very good hands": Former Olympic gold medalist shares reason behind comparing Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz with 'Big Three'

Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz have become the face of men’s tennis in a short span of time. Both players have now shared the last seven Grand Slams, thus making them undoubtedly the two best players in the world.

This year, Sinner and Alcaraz faced off in two out of the three Grand Slam finals. At the French Open, Alcaraz came out on top in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. The most impressive aspect of that win was Alcaraz’s comeback in the fourth set, where he faced three championship points.

Alcaraz not only managed to save those three championship points but also broke Sinner’s serve in the next game to make it 5-5 and eventually won the set on the tiebreak. The match lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slam tennis in the Open era. A month later, both players faced off in the final at Wimbledon. This time, it was Sinner’s turn to take the glory back home as he defeated Alcaraz in four sets with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

That kind of consistency often makes former players and pundits compare Sinner and Alcaraz with the ‘Big Three’ era, which consisted of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Those three players dominated men’s tennis for a good part of two decades, and each one of them ended up lifting 20 or more Grand Slam titles in their respective careers. Former world number nine Nicolas Massu has become the latest personality from the tennis world to share his perspective about how Sinner and Alcaraz are compared to arguably the three greatest players in men’s tennis. Massu, who won an Olympic doubles gold medal in 2004, was of the opinion that Alcaraz is more similar to Nadal at the same age, whereas Sinner is closer to the level of Federer and Djokovic. Massu was of the opinion that men’s tennis is in ‘good hands’ with Sinner and Alcaraz leading the charge.

"I remember Nadal's arrival on the tour,” said Massu. “I think Alcaraz is at the same level and at the same age. On the other hand, Sinner is a little more in the same vein as Federer and Djokovic: they won their first Grand Slam a little later, and they started to mature at 21 or 22. Alcaraz and Nadal were very good at a very young age, at 18 or 19. Tennis is in very good hands."

Both players have shown a lot of respect for each other, on and off the court. Alcaraz, after losing the final of Wimbledon, stated that Sinner makes him a better player. “I just am really, really happy about having this rivalry with him,” said Alcaraz back then. I think it's great for us and it is great for tennis. Every time we play against each other, I think our level is really high. I think we don't watch a level like this, if I'm honest with you. I don't see any player playing against each other having the level that we are playing when we face each other. I think, as I said many, many times, this rivalry is getting better and better. We're building a really great rivalry because we're playing finals of Grand Slams, finals of Masters – the best tournaments in the world. It's going to be better and better. I am just really grateful for that because it gives me the opportunity to just give my 100 per cent every practice, every day, just to be better, thanks to that. The level that I have to maintain and I have to raise if I want to beat Jannik is really high.”