Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner’s eventual Grand Slam hauls predicted by renowned tennis analyst
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been tipped to become two of the greatest players in tennis history, with renowned coach and analyst Brad Gilbert predicting they could eventually break into the all-time top four.
The Spaniard and the Italian have dominated the landscape of men’s tennis over the last two and a half years, collecting 10 of the 11 most recent Grand Slam titles between them.
Following their Monte-Carlo Masters final meeting in April, they set a new record for the highest combined ATP Rankings points total held by the world No 1 and world No 2, with 26,640 points.
Remarkably, this was higher than the combined ranking points total of the rest of the world’s top eight players (26,080).
Most recently, Sinner dropped just three sets en route to winning a second consecutive Wimbledon title.
The result moved the Italian onto five Grand Slam singles titles, while Alcaraz sits two ahead with seven.
The Spaniard’s achievement of winning seven Grand Slam titles by the age of 22 years and 272 days placed him ahead of Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal as the youngest male player to reach that milestone.
Gilbert, a former world No 4 and coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick, believes both stars are on a trajectory that could see them challenge the legendary Grand Slam records set by Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Nadal.
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Speaking on ‘The Big T Podcast’, Gilbert explained why Alcaraz and Sinner do not currently feature in his top-10 greatest players of all time list.
“Provided they both stay healthy and do a lot more, they are going to be high up on the list,” he began.
“But at the moment, they are not in the top 10! People think they are way up there.
“If you think they should be right next to them, then from 11-14 you’ve still got [Mats] Wilander, [Stefan] Edberg, [Boris] Becker, [Ken] Rosewall, [John] Newcombe, lots of guys through that first 15, for me.
“But once they both get to eight-10 and double figures, and have that longevity, they will be moving up, but if either one of them doesn’t do anything more, I can’t put them on the list.”
Alcaraz has not competed since April’s Barcelona Open, where he suffered a wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Most recently, he featured on the newly released Cincinnati Open entry list; however, this does not confirm that he will be fit enough to compete in North America.
When predicting the pair’s eventual Grand Slam title hauls and their positions in tennis history, Gilbert was careful to highlight the uncertainty surrounding Alcaraz’s injury situation.
“Four to six [on the list], let’s look at that,” he predicted.
“[Pete] Sampras, [Bjorn] Borg, [Rod] Laver. I feel like if these guys continue on the same trajectory, obviously, we don’t know for Alcaraz, coming back from his injury, will he still be the same?
“Let’s say he continues on, I feel like these two guys in five or seven years are easily going to be in that mix of four to six.
“Saying they are going to get in the 20s. I mean, who would’ve thought anybody [would win 20 Grand Slams]?
“But I feel like I would be very surprised if they’re not in that four to six mix in five to seven years, that’s the trajectory they’re headed on.”
