Tim Henman predicts how many Grand Slam titles Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will win
Jannik Sinner claimed his second Grand Slam title after a thrilling win against Taylor Fritz in the US Open final – and now the guessing game is on to assess how many major titles he will win in his career.
Sinner beat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to become the first Italian US Open champion, as he confirmed his status as the world No 1 in emphatic fashion.
With Australian Open champion Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz sharing the four Grand Slam titles between them after the Spaniard won the French Open and Wimbledon, the debate is now on to guess how many major titles the two biggest stars in the men’s game will win over the course of their career.
Sinner now has two Grand Slams, with Alcaraz boasting four on his record at the age of 21, with the young guns ready to start a new era of dominance in men’s tennis.
Henman joined the debate over how many Grand Slam titles the pair would share and he started with a joke, as he suggested they will both beat Novak Djokovic’s all-time record of 24.
“They will end their careers tied on 25 Grand Slams!” said a laughing Henman on Sky Sports Tennis.
“I think they will both go past 10, which is an incredible achievement.
“When I was playing and Pete Sampras won his 14th Grand Slam, I would have bet my bottom dollar no one is going past 14 Grand Slams, and then we’ve had Federer, Nadal, Djokovic go flying past it.
“In the context of the game, McEnroe won seven, Connors won eight, Becker won six and now we’re flippantly saying they are going to win double-digits.
“Sinner and Alcaraz, they are phenomenal, they are going to win many Grand Slams. For me, it’s going to be who is also going to be part of the conversation?
“We’re looking at could it be Ben Shelton, Tiafoe or Fritz from the Americans? Is it going to be Holger Rune? Is it going to be Jack Draper? I think that’s going to be fascinating to see.
“You’re never going to just have two. Alexander Zverev is a little bit older, I’m thinking more the younger generation.
“Who can come through and win these Grand Slam titles and challenge Alcaraz and Sinner?”
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Tennis legend Martina Navratilova backed up Henman’s claims that Sinner and Alcaraz will get ten or more Grand Slam titles, as she saluted the Italian following his US Open triumph.
“I think double-digits for Sinner and I would say the same for Alcaraz,” said Navratilova.
“We’ll see if they stay healthy that is, of course, because that is the wildcard.
“Sinner’s an understated guy. He’s not flashy, but his game certainly is.
“He just raised the level when he had to. Jannik was just better.
“Eveyrthing Fritz did well, Sinner just did better. Not by much, but enough. At this level, it’s very small margins.”
Sinner’s US Open preparations were dominated by the news that he had been cleared of wrongdoing after failing two drug tests back in March, as Henman reflected on his win in New York as evidence of his mental strength.
“You reflect on Cincinnati, when we didn’t know what was going on when he’d had a positive drugs test,” added Henman.
“Likewise coming out into such a big match today, he started beautifully, dominated proceedings. and in the third set when we finally got a reaction from Fritz and the crowd got involved, there was no panic from Sinner.
“That’s where he showed enormous maturity. It was only his second Grand Slam final, but there was no panic. He just kept sticking to the process.
“He was so aggressive from the back of the court, and to win those last three games and seal the match in straight sets was incredibly impressive.”
