Toni Nadal believes Jannik Sinner is now “almost unbeatable” for most players on the ATP Tour although he admits he still prefers Carlos Alcaraz’s game, adding “I like him even more”.
Sinner has been unstoppable this year as he took his trophy tally for the year to six with a comprehensive win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open final.
It was the Italian’s second Grand Slam of the year as he also won the Australian Open to go with the Miami Open, Cincinnati Open, Halle Open and Rotterdam Open titles.
The 23-year-old has a 55-5 win-loss record in 2024 and Nadal – the uncle and former coach of the great Rafael Nadal – spoke highly of the world No 1 in his latest piece in El Pais.
“Today he has become an almost unbeatable player for the vast majority of his opponents. He is capable of printing to each of his strokes a very high speed and of making very few unforced errors,” he wrote.
“Overcoming him from the back of the court is almost impossible and this is, precisely and in my opinion, the mistake that Fritz made in the first two sets: making the wrong decision to play very fast rallies from the back of the court and try to surprise him or connect a winning shot; but causing the Italian to make a mistake was, as we saw, practically impossible.”
Sinner and Alcaraz shared the four Grand Slams this year as the Spaniard won the French Open and Wimbledon titles.
They have formed an incredible rivalry with many believing they will dominate men’s tennis for years to come.
“With the victory of Sinner on the men’s side, we can also credit more than ever what was already an obvious rivalry with our great champion, Carlos Alcaraz,” Nadal added.
“With Sunday’s victory, Sinner won his second major of the year, equaling the annual record of the Spanish player and practically assuring himself of finishing the year as No 1 in world tennis.”
The coaching great, though, is still a bigger fan of Alcaraz’s game although he has warned the 21-year-old that Sinner’s mentality is on a different level.
Nadal wrote: “If I may go back to Alcaraz, since he is the one we care about, I must say that I still enjoy his game more – I like him even more, but also admit and fear that the notorious improvement of the current leader, especially at a mental level, will make things really difficult for him. The rivalry, definitely, is served.”
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