Carlos Alcaraz’s winning record against Jannik Sinner is misleading, claims leading coach
Carlos Alcaraz may hold a 10-6 lead in his head-to-head battles with his great rival Jannik Sinner, but a leading coach has suggested the Italian is trailing in this compelling battle.
Alcaraz and Sinner have dominated men’s tennis for the past two years, as they have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between them.
The chasm in class between the ‘Big 2’ and the rest appears to be widening, with the chasing pack showing no signs of getting any closer to the two players who contested the deciding match at the ATP Finals earlier this month.
Yet when assessing which of the duo is the best, opinion will always be divided.
In the opinion of leading coach Patrick Mouratoglou, there is no clear winner in a head-to-head that always serves up tight matches when they meet on court.
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Yet the former coach of Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka has dismissed the theory that Alcaraz is a step ahead of Sinner due to his winning record in their battles.
“We have a World No 1 named Carlos Alcaraz, who has defeated his nemesis Jannik Sinner in 10 out of their 16 matches,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
“Alcaraz leads their Grand Slam final head-to-head 3-1, and 4-2 in total Grand Slam matches. However, Sinner consistently overplays every other opponent on the Tour and has nearly tied Alcaraz in the ATP rankings despite missing three months of play.
“He is often pictured as the ‘real’ No 1, which leads to this perception, even more after his dominance at the ATP Finals. They say Sinner is better than anyone else, but Alcaraz is the best of the two. Sorry, but I don’t buy it.
“Even though Carlos leads their head-to-head, their matches are extremely close. The Roland-Garros final was decided by tiny details, nothing suggested that one player didn’t have the answers for the other. Technically, tactically, mentally, they are equals.
“What truly separates them is how they dominate everyone else. Jannik does it with focus, margin, and no fluctuations. Against most players, there’s simply nothing they can do.
“Carlos does it differently, with creativity, risk, explosive winners, and sometimes more ups and downs. But when he raises his level, no one can live with him.”
Mouratoglou’s suggestion that Alcaraz is close to being unstoppable when he is at his best was backed up by his thrilling dismantling of Sinner in the US Open final in September, but the truth is we will cannot answer who is the best of the duo right now.
It may take a decade to come up with a final decision on whether Alcaraz or Sinner was the best of this era of tennis and by then, it is safe to assume these two all-time greats of the game will have taken their Grand Slam win tally into double figures.
