Roger Federer’s former coach highlights why Jannik Sinner is ahead of Carlos Alcaraz at the moment
Jannik Sinner’s “absurd consistency” means he is likely to have a lot more success than Carlos Alcaraz in the long term, according to former world No 3 Ivan Ljubicic.
Sinner and Alcaraz have dominated tennis in 2024 as they each won two Grand Slams with the former taking the honours at the Australian Open and US Open while the Spaniard won trophies at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
The Italian, though, will finish the season as the year-end No 1 as he has won seven titles – two Grand Slams and two ATP Masters 1000 events – compared to Alcaraz’s four.
Following his Shanghai Masters title run, Sinner has opened a 4,800-point lead over second-placed Alcaraz in the ATP Rankings and he will no doubt be named 2024 player of the year.
Ljubicic – who coached former world No 1 Roger Federer from 2016 until his retirement in 2022 – says although Alcaraz is “scary” when he is in top form, Sinner is quite “special” and his consistency puts him ahead of his rival.
“The numbers speak for themselves, he is dominating right now and we hope for the Italian public that he will do so for as long as possible,” the Croatian told Sky Sports Italia.
“He has double the points of Alcaraz even though they have won two Slams each, this gives a sense of his absurd consistency, which is the sign of great champions.
“Jannik and Carlos are very different as players, in character and in type of game: Jannik is more consistent.
“If we talk about ranking, he will probably be ahead of Alcaraz in many aspects. At the top, in a single tournament or in a direct confrontation, however, anything can happen.
“When Carlitos plays well, I do not say that he is unplayable, but he is scary. On the other hand, regarding consistency, Jannik made us understand and continues to make us understand that he is special.
“Perhaps he does not have the spectacular shots of Alcaraz but he has almost perfect tennis.”
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Sinner defeated Djokovic in the Shanghai final as he beat the 24-time Grand Slam winner for a third consecutive time.
Ljubicic added: “Such a humble guy… He wins a tournament like Shanghai, beating Djokovic in the final, and raises his arms as if to say ‘tomorrow is another day and we start again’. With this mentality he got where he got.”
