Eye of the Coach #67: Now and in the future, Sinner is the most dangerous challenger for Alcaraz
Patrick Mouratoglou explains that Jannik Sinner is the most dangerous player for Alcaraz to face, today and in the years to come. For the coach, the Italian has the perfect game to counter the Spaniard
Jannik is 21 years old, Carlos is 19. These two are set for a big battle in the years to come. Admittedly, Sinner has not won a Grand Slam – yet – while Alcaraz has just been crowned champion at the US Open. But these two have already faced each other several times, in the so-called Next-Gen duels. And several times, the Italian had the edge – most recently in the Umag final, in July.
In the US Open quarter-finals against Sinner, Alcaraz emerged victorious in a five-set fight – but for Patrick Mouratoglou, the Italian remains the player who has the qualities most likely to hurt the Spaniard.
“Sinner is the player who threatens Carlos Alcaraz the most, in the short term, but also in the long term,” he says.
Key moments
10”: “Alcaraz is world No 1, everyone will want to beat him, he now has a target on his back,” explains Mouratoglou.
25″: “As we speak, Alcaraz is better than the members of the old ‘Next-Gen’: Zverev, Tsitsipas, Berrettini, Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime, and Rublev.”
40″: “Sinner does not need to play the tennis of his life to be at the level of Alcaraz.”
50”: “Sinner has the moves that hurt Alcaraz.”
1′: “All the other players, including Nadal and Djokovic, will have to dig in to be able to beat Alcaraz.”
