Mats Wilander sees Tsitsipas, Ruud and Medvedev as 'Dimitrov, Cilic, or Nishikori' compared to Alcaraz and Sinner

Former world number one Mats Wilander has highlighted why Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz reminds him of the original ‘Big Three’. Both youngsters are already regarded as two of the best players currently playing in men’s tennis in the singles category.

Former world number one Wilander, in a recent article on the French publication L’Equipe, has explained the reason why these two players remind him of the ‘Big Three’, including former world number one Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.

The 60-year-old, who lifted seven Grand Slam titles in his illustrious career, cited the example of Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud, also of whom have already crashed out of the ongoing French Open. Wilander was of the opinion that those three players reminded him of the likes of Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who were a level below the likes of Federer, Djokovic and Nadal.

“After Daniil Medvedev the day before, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud left the tournament on Wednesday of the first week. In the best of five sets, these guys should be in the round of 16 or quarterfinals of every Grand Slam. Of course, there are some details to put into perspective,” he wrote.

“This generation reminds me of Dimitrov, Cilic, or Nishikori, those guys who didn't manage to establish themselves at the top, permanently. We know why. Above them were the Djokovic-Federer-Nadal-Murray-Wawrinka generation. Today, there are two of them, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who are taking the game in a certain direction. To a higher level, not only because of the quality of their tennis but because of the way they play it, always moving forward, always taking the ball early, always hitting as many forehands as possible, and all the while having a solid backhand, which blocks absolutely everything.”