'I think you need a big ego': Patrick Mouratoglou highlights what Jack Draper must do to compete with Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner

Men’s tennis is going through a transition phase. From the dominance of Big Three, including the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, all three of them who have won 20 or more Grand Slam titles, it is now the era of dominance of two younger players, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner.

Both players have proved themselves to be a class apart over the last 24 months as they have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles. As things stand, Alcaraz is number one in the world with 11,340 rating points, followed by Sinner in the second spot with 10,000 rating points.

No other player on the circuit has even 6,000 points, which shows that they are reaching the levels not many thought they would, and that too so early in their respective careers. With Alcaraz and Sinner dominating every major event, the question that has often been asked is which player will be able to compete against them in the near future.

Famous tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has answered that question. The 55-year-old has recently spoken to Sky Sports, where he expressed that Britain’s Jack Draper is a candidate to compete against the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner in the near future.

Mouratoglou was of the opinion that while Draper has a long way to go before being named in the same discussion, he has what it takes to compete against the best players at the highest levels. Mouratoglou in particular highlighted that Draper needs to have a ‘big ego’, that too in a ‘positive way’, to compete with players like Alcaraz and Sinner.

I can imagine Draper competing with Alcaraz and Sinner, says Mouratoglou

"It's difficult to see someone compete with Alcaraz and Sinner today because there is too much of a margin, but can I see Jack in the future potentially competing with them? Yes!" said Mouratoglou. "There are a couple of things that are important. Firstly, the margin of progress between his level and the level of the top 10 and the level of Alcaraz and Sinner. There is a big gap and they have to close that gap, so the margin of progression is very important to have if you want to be able to compete with them in the future. He has that.”

He continued by saying: "Secondly, you need to have a balanced game. If you have a weakness, they will use it because they're too complete, so you have to be complete as well. You can't afford to have a weakness in your game otherwise they're going to take advantage of it and I think the fact that he's progressed a lot on his backhand is a key element. And thirdly, I think you need a big ego and I say that in a positive way because to see yourself beating Alcaraz and Sinner you really have to have a big ego and 99 per cent of the players in the top 100 don't believe it at all."

Mouratoglou then went on to compare the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner with the way the likes of Federer and Nadal dominated men’s tennis. Still, they finally found another player who could raise his game to their level, Djokovic. Mouratoglou stated that Djokovic was able to compete with the likes of Federer and Nadal because of having an ‘ego’ that pushed him to achieve great things.

"It was the same situation when Roger and Rafa were dominating before Novak [Djokovic] came in," said Mouratoglou. "They were dominating the same way and at that time a young Novak said, 'I'm going to beat them'. He has this ego, he has this belief and he ended up doing it and becoming the greatest of all time. I wish this for Jack, but you need to have the belief and I think he does, so I can see him doing it. Not today, but I can imagine him competing with Alcaraz and Sinner."