Gael Monfils and Jeremy Chardy are the primary to hail Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as “incredible” gamers however each agree that it’s nonetheless very early to match these two to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer or assume that they already higher than the Huge Three.
This 12 months, the 23-year-old Italian and the 21-year-old Spaniard completely dominated the largest tournaments, splitting 4 Grand Slams and likewise mixed for 5 Masters wins. Additionally, it must be famous that Sinner gained the ATP Finals – reached the world No. 1 place for the primary time in his profession – and posted a shocking 73-6 report.
Naturally, their dominance in 2024 led to some massive takes and a few even already now evaluating them to the three best gamers in tennis historical past.
In October, Eurosport professional and former seven-time Grand Slam winner Mats Wilander acknowledged that “no one has ever played better tennis” than Sinner and Alcaraz when at their finest degree.
At the moment, the Italian has two Slams in his assortment whereas the Spaniard sits at 4.
Monfils, who has been on the Tour since 2004 and plenty of occasions skilled on how his personal pores and skin the way it felt to play a Huge Three group member, suggests there must go at the least 5 to 10 extra years simply to see if there is sufficient to evaluate the present dominant forces to the likes of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer.
“Of course, Jannik had an incredible year and Carlos as well, but we need to give it to Jannik because his record was just insane. It’s been an unbelievable year for him and on the numbers, he has to be the best player this year. It’s tough to compare Jannik and Carlos with the Big Three,” Monfils told Tennis365.
“These guys are still young, so let’s wait and see. Maybe in five years, ten years. Then comparisons will be easier. Now Carlos is 21, so it’s really tough to compare him to someone like Novak, who is 37 and has won so many Slams. What we can say is these two guys are doing it in a way that will give them a chance to match the legends in our sport.”
Gael Monfils© UTS Tour/Instagram – Truthful Use
Chardy: Sinner and Alcaraz are wonderful, however the Huge Three have unbelievable data
At the moment, Djokovic owns the all-time Slam report with 24 titles whereas Nadal completed with 22 and Federer gained 20 throughout his profession. For the 23-year-old and the 21-year-old to even come shut or break these data, they would want to utterly dominate tennis for at the least one other decade.
Chardy, a former world No. 25 who retired final 12 months, applauded Sinner and Alcaraz’s early success but additionally steered that it’s foolish to assume that they’re already higher than the Huge Three.
“Sinner and Alcaraz have been wonderful and tennis is fortunate to have them, however to say they’re higher than Roger, Rafa and Novak already… come on. I performed these guys so many occasions in my profession they usually had been unbelievable gamers with unbelievable data,” Chardy said.
“At the moment, Sinner and Alcaraz have had a good start to their careers, but you cannot compare them to Roger, Rafa and Novak yet, of course not. I don’t like to compare eras, maybe in ten years time we can look at what Jannik and Carlos have done and say it is comparable to these three guys, but not yet.”
What Nadal said about the same topic?
The rivalries that the Big Three shared between them went down didn’t only go down as one of the greatest in tennis but in all sports history.
Ahead of the Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, Nadal spoke with DAZN and he was asked about some comparing Sinner and Alcaraz to the Big Three. Answering the question, the Spanish tennis icon said it was too early for any comparisons to be made and urged the public to let those two “create their very own story.”
“We need to wait, but of course. This year already two grand slams for each of them. Number 1 and number 2 in the world. They’re creating their own story. I think it’s not a moment to compare eras. Because Novak is still there. Roger and myself left.. but that’s part of the sports career of everyone. Now it’s a new generation coming. We need to let them create their own rivalries and their own story. They don’t need the comparisons with us. Let’s see at the end of their careers, then will be the moment to compete what they did and what we did,” Nadal mentioned on DAZN in October.
