‘Jannik Sinner plays at the level of a young Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer’

Ewan West 12 Feb 2025 10:57 AM

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner

Italian tennis coach and former player Corrado Barazzutti has labelled Jannik Sinner an “alien” and compared his compatriot to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The former world No 7 asserted that Sinner’s rivals are not at his level as he gave his verdict on the other top contenders and young stars on the ATP Tour.

Sinner made a perfect start to the 2025 season by defending his Australian Open title to take his Grand Slam trophy haul to three.

The 23-year-old earned a convincing straight-set win over world No 2 Alexander Zverev in the final at Melbourne Park to solidify his status as the world No 1.

In a sensational 2024 season, Sinner secured eight titles, including two majors, the ATP Finals and three Masters 1000 titles, while he also led Italy to a second successive Davis Cup triumph.

The Italian chose not to defend his title at the Rotterdam Open last week, and he is set to return to action at the newly-upgraded ATP 500 tournament in Doha, which will begin on February 17.

Sinner’s dominance over the last year has led to him being likened to the Big Three of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer — who are widely considered the three greatest players in the history of men’s tennis.

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Barazzutti, who coaches world No 16 Lorenzo Musetti and has previously worked with Italy’s Fed Cup and Davis Cup teams, was asked to described Sinner in an interview with La Nacion.

“At the moment, he’s an alien. He’s not good, he’s great! He plays at the level of a young Djokovic, a young Nadal, a young Federer,” the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist said.

“The problem is that the other players are not at his level. [Carlos] Alcaraz, when he plays well, is the only one who can compete against Sinner, who has no ups and downs; that is his strength. He wins even when he doesn’t play well. He plays the best tennis in the world.

“[Daniil] Medvedev and [Stefanos] Tsitsipas are not playing as well anymore. We are waiting for [Holger] Rune, he is young. Djokovic is leaving.

“The young players who can come close are [Lorenzo] Musetti, Rune, [Ben] Shelton, the Czechs: [Jakub] Mensik and [Tomas] Machac, the Brazilian [Joao] Fonseca; they are the new players who are going to take the place of Tsitsipas, [Andrey] Rublev, Medvedev, [Casper] Ruud.

“We will see if the young players reach Sinner’s level; if they don’t, Jannik will win from now on… He has a very strong mind.”