‘Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune will be the top 3 in five years’, says former No 3

Ivan Ljubicic has backed the young trio of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune to be the top three players in the ATP Rankings in five years.

The Croatian, a former coach of 20-time major champion Roger Federer, also expects Daniil Medvedev to still be at the top of the game and “making their lives tough.”

Alcaraz, Sinner and Rune have all achieved impressive results in their careers to date and already occupy spots in the world’s top 10.

World No 1 Alcaraz, 20, has won two Grand Slam titles and four ATP Masters 1000 events. Sixth-ranked Rune, also 20, has won four titles, including the Paris Masters last year.

Sinner, who turns 22 this month, is currently ranked eighth and has won seven titles – the biggest being the Citi Open ATP 500 tournament.

In an interview with Tennis Majors, Ljubicic discussed the development of Sinner, as well as the Italian’s younger rivals.

“He has improved, as he should at this age. We can argue, is it fast enough, if those jumps are [high enough]. I think Alcaraz has improved a lot the last 12 months. I think Holger Rune made a big step forward too,” said the former world No 3.

“It’s okay. Five years from now, most likely Alcaraz, Sinner and Rune will be one, two and three, with Medvedev probably still around, you know, making their lives tough.

“Maybe some guys will, you know, surprise us. But this is what it feels at the moment. We being in Italy now, we would like to see this jump higher, bigger. But (Sinner’s trajectory) is not disappointing, let’s put it this way.”

Ljubicic, who coached Federer to his last three Grand Slam triumphs, feels Sinner was held back by his lack of big match exposure in 2022.

“Last year, I was disappointed that he did not have enough important matches, which I felt like was important because it’s clear that he’s a type of a player, that he’s going to do five quarters and then he’s going to move to semis and then finals,” added the Croatian.

“He’s not going to explode out of nowhere. He’s a thinker. He’s somebody who’s going to make slow moves up there. So I was sorry that last year he didn’t have any big matches and any semis, any finals.

“Now he’s making the step that he was supposed to do last year, he’s doing it this year, so he’s coming. There’s no question, I don’t know, is it this year, is it next year, is it in two or three years’ time. But his determination is there, so he’s going to keep coming up.”

READ MORE: ‘Carlos Alcaraz has talent and temperament to go for Big Three numbers’, says former pro