Tennis legend gives major praise for sport's rising stars

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Jannik Sinner of Italy. Susan Mullane-Imagn Images

Tennis legend on sport's rising stars: 'No way anyone has ever played better tennis'

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 4, 2024 9:29 AM ET

The "Big Three" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic captured 66 of the 84 majors between 2003 and 2023 but never played at the level of rising stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, according to one tennis legend.

That controversial opinion comes from seven-time grand slam winner Mats Wilander, who believes Alcaraz and Sinner have raised the bar to heights the sport has never reached.

"They are following in the footsteps of the 'Big Three' in terms of level," Wilander told Eurosport. "I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way anyone has ever played better tennis, that the tennis ball has done more different, complicated, difficult things than the ball is doing between Sinner and Alcaraz."

The Swede legend added that when Sinner and Alcaraz collide on the tennis court, they produce one of the "best sporting events ever" unmatched in drama, suspense and athleticism.

"I hope Roger, Novak, and Rafa are not listening."

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander was left in awe after the China Open final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. pic.twitter.com/bn2Q59xOUP
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 3, 2024

Wilander's take comes shortly after Sinner and Alcaraz produced an exhilarating three-plus hours of tennis in the finals of the China Open on Wednesday.

Sinner and Alcaraz split the four major titles in 2024, with the Italian claiming the two hard-court slams at the Australian Open and U.S. Open and the Spaniard prevailing at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The pair became the first set of players since Federer and Nadal in 2017 and Djokovic and Nadal in 2019 to split the four majors in a single season — further justifying their tag of the successors of the Big Three.

While the two stars always produce riveting tennis when matched up, Alcaraz beat Sinner during all three meetings in 2024 to take a 6-4 head-to-head lead over his rival. The pair could match up again in the ongoing Shanghai Masters and the year-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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