Jannik Sinner followed in Carlos Alcaraz’s footsteps by winning his first grand slam title in January.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can join Novak Djokovic as members of a new ‘Big Three’ in men’s tennis over the coming years, before taking up the Serbian’s mantle when he retires.
That is the view of four-time grand slam semi-finalist Tommy Haas, who believes Sinner’s sheer power will help him build on the Australian Open title he captured last month.
Sinner recovered from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in a thrilling Australian Open final in January, claiming his first grand slam title at the age of 22.
The Italian’s triumph made him the third-youngest man to win the event since it moved to Melbourne Park in 1988, older only than Djokovic in 2008 and Jim Courrier in 1992.
That breakout victory led to suggestions that Sinner could join Alcaraz in becoming a regular challenger to Djokovic, who has largely dominated men’s tennis in recent years, with Roger Federer retiring in 2022 and Rafael Nadal beset by injury problems.
While Haas believes Alcaraz is currently a more rounded player than Sinner, he feels the Italian has every chance of adding to his first major crown in the coming years.
“Maybe with Al, it’s a bit more of an all-round game, but I think Sinner is going to continue to work on his,” Haas told Stats Perform.
“He’s already done a great job on movement, on defence. Maybe he doesn’t actually need to learn to get to the net and finish more, but I’m sure he’s going to try because of his powerful groundstrokes.
“If he keeps playing like he does, it’s just so powerful. You’re going to be reacting pretty much all the time against him.
“He’s going to try to improve his serve, he’s going to try to improve physically. If he stays healthy, if Alcaraz stays healthy, these two are going to be the ones playing for a lot of the big titles.”
However, Haas also thinks there are other contenders capable of pushing for major honours, adding: “Then you have Holger Rune, you have these other young players coming up.
“He now has to step it up a little bit. I think there’s been lots going on with his team, with lots of chefs in the kitchen, but he’s got the right mindset, he’s got the will, he’s got the potential.
“You have [Alexander] Zverev, who obviously still believes he can and should win a slam, so there’s a lot of nice contrast there.
“Medvedev, on hardcourts you can never count him out, and he’s only 27. I think there is still potential for those guys to keep doing well.
“[Andrey] Rublev, I feel like he’s getting better on defence as well. He pounds the ball like no other. So if he gets a little bit tougher mentally, don’t count him out. There’s a lot of good storylines there.”
Leave a Reply