Sinner and Alcaraz ‘more likely’ than Big Three to complete rare feat says Davis Cup winner

Sam Cooper 16 Jul 2025 1:56 PM

Sinner and Alcaraz have been predicted by many to dominate men’s tennis for years to come.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have been told they are “more likely” to complete the Calendar Grand Slam than Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer were.

Despite all they have achieved, the Calendar Grand Slam eluded the Big Three with none of them able to win all slams in one single year.

The closest attempt was by Djokovic who missed out on four occasions by just a single slam.

The new generation though have been told they have a better chance due to the two of them looking set to dominate the men’s game for years to come.

1976 Davis Cup winner Paolo Bertolucci said that it is “more likely” for the duo to complete the feat, something not done in men’s tennis since Rod Laver in 1969.

“In my opinion, the possibility of it happening now has become more likely, precisely because we have two players of that level, not three, four, or five like in the last decade,” he wrote for Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Sinner and Alcaraz are in a different sport; they are two men in sole command. Last year, like good ‘little brothers,’ they shared two majors each. This year, however, we’re 2-1 in favour of the Italian, and the fourth event remains, with all the complaints that can be made about the three match points missed in Paris.”

Sinner’s win at Wimbledon proved many critics wrong after there had been a suggestion that Alcaraz would dominate on grass courts. Bertolucci said that even dropping performance levels by as little as 3% can be catastrophic for either player.

“No surface favours one or the other anymore; even in the Wimbledon final, we saw that when one of the two puts in 3% less on the court, they’re taken away,” said Bertolucci.

“Then everything changed. We’re talking about an increasingly physical and less technical sport, different rackets and balls, but also different surfaces.

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“At the All England Club, I saw a photo from 1985; on the grass, there was a vertical groove all the way to the net, not a horizontal one behind it,” he said.

“Now the baseline is being played in an unimaginable way, especially from Jannik and Carlos, who hit impressive shots in rallies that can last seven or eight shots.

“Not Djokovic, whose ball is now travelling 20 kilometres per hour slower.

“Then maybe someone else will come along, perhaps [Joao] Fonseca, but for three years the stage is set for Rod Laver’s two heirs.”