Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are by far and away the best two players in the world when they are fit.
The pair dominated the landscape of tennis in 2024 and 2025, equally splitting the Grand Slam titles between them with four major victories apiece.
But Alcaraz and Sinner staying fit has been the major issue in 2026 and it’s seen their dominance slip on the ATP Tour.
Alcaraz missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon due to a wrist injury, while Sinner has been forced to miss the second half of the season due to issues with his knee.
Before their injury issues, they dominated tennis in a similar way to Novak Djokvovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, who were collectively know as the ‘big three’ for their time at the top of tennis from the early 2000s until the late 2010s.
Victor Hanescu, who played on the ATP Tour between 2000 and 2016 and reached world No 26 in the rankings, has now compared Alcaraz and Sinner to the ‘big three’.
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In an interview with Ubitennis, Hanescu said: “The main difference between the two eras is consistency . From a certain point of view, I understand Jannik and Carlos, because despite their young age, they have already won several important tournaments. Perhaps they don’t have the same goals, perhaps they lack the ambition to win as much as the Big Three.”
Hanescu believes no one currently comes close to the consistency set by Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal, who collected 61 Grand Slam titles between them.
“I think what was impressive was precisely their consistency. Today, in the final stages of Grand Slams, we have several young players who take turns. My impression from that era is that it was simply impossible to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam,” he said.
“Because the top spots were always occupied by those three and Andy Murray, who often managed to sneak in. Facing them was an extreme experience; they had unique characteristics.”
Prior to their injuries, Sinner and Alcaraz looked on track to reach a similar number of Grand Slam titles as the ‘big three’ managed in their careers.
However, with their extended breaks, it now looks in doubt whether the Italian and the Spaniard will be able to return to the form they showed in 2024 and 2025.
Nevertheless, Sinner and Alcaraz, along with Alexander Zverev, will likely enter the 2027 season as one of key favourites to win the Grand Slams, so anything can happen in the sport.
But it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see them suffer key defeats, which would have been a shock when it came to Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in their prime.
