JUST NOW: LEGEND BAGHDATIS DROPS BOMBSHELL – SAYS ALCARAZ & SINNER ALREADY “WEAK” AND “BEATABLE” AS HE NAMES THREE PLAYERS WHO CAN DEFEAT THEM WITH EASE.
Former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis has predicted which of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will win more Grand Slam titles and named the ATP player who he thinks can break the pair’s duopoly.
Alcaraz has won six Grand Slams, having defeated Sinner in four sets in the US Open final in September to secure his most recent major.
Sinner has claimed four majors, with his most recent coming at Wimbledon in July this year, where he overcame Alcaraz in four sets in the championship match.
Between them, Alcaraz and Sinner have each won four of the last eight Grand Slams, and the duo separated themselves from the chasing pack in 2025. They met in the finals at five consecutive tournaments they both competed in (from the Italian Open to the US Open).
In an exclusive interview, Tennis365 asked Baghdatis whether he thinks Alcaraz or Sinner will finish with more majors.
“Very tough question. I would go with Alcaraz because he has more variety to his game, I can say,” said the former world No 8
“But he’s mentally maybe less consistent than Sinner, so it can backfire. But yeah, I would go with Alcaraz.”
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Baghdatis identified 19-year-old Brazilian star Joao Fonseca as the next man who will break through and win a Grand Slam in the coming years.
“Maybe Fonseca, I would say. That’s one of them who could, and I think will,” assessed the Cypriot.
“But other than Fonseca, especially in a Grand Slam in a five-setter, I don’t see [who can stop Alcaraz and Sinner]… Yeah, maybe [Alexander] Zverev can win here and there, one or two. But it’s gonna be tough.”
Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominance has seen them compared to Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Baghdatis, who faced each of the Big Three during his own career, addressed how Alcaraz and Sinner’s level compared to that of the three icons in their prime.
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“Honestly, it’s very tough to compare,” Baghdatis said.
“What I can say, I see the whole of tennis right now and I think… my opinion is that before; the Roger, the Rafa, the Novak, the Andy [Murray]’s – they had so many people pushing them behind them.
“When I say so many, you had the [Stan] Wawrinka’s, you had the [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga’s, you had the [David] Ferrer’s. So that’s where I think they stand out a bit – because their competition was much better.
“So yeah, that’s what I think. Maybe I’m wrong, but what’s what I see. But to compare… the only way you could compare Alcaraz and Sinner to those three, four players was to put them there.”
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Former British No 1’s shock verdict on why Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are better than the ‘Big 3’
Novak Djokovic has been quick to suggest the claims that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken tennis to the next level are not respecting the achievements of the three most successful male players of all-time, but former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has told Tennis365 that the new ‘Big 2’ are in a league of their own.
Djokovic hit back at reports that Alcaraz and Sinner were playing the game at a level above the one produced in an era he dominated alongside Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
That iconic trio won 66 Grand Slam titles between them, but some of the game’s greatest players have claimed the new dominant duo in men’s tennis are hitting the ball with more venom and consistency than the ‘Big 3’.
Now Rusedski has waded in on the debate, as he claimed every new era in the sport raises the bar of excellence, which is why Alcaraz and Sinner are already being hailed as all-time greats of the sport.
“Every generation goes to the next level and that’s what we are seeing with Alcaraz and Sinner,” said the 1997 US Open finalist told Tennis365, ahead of the launch of his new podcast, Off Court with Greg.
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“Sports science gets better, techniques gets better, racket technology improves and while we are saying Alcaraz and Sinner are playing tennis we have never seen before, that doesn’t mean the greats of the past would not also rise to this level if they had the same conditions to play in now.
“You look at my generation and we had Pete Sampras in there. He got to 14 Grand Slam titles to break the all-time record in the men’s game and everyone said that would never be beaten.
“Then all of a sudden, along comes Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and they all won 20 and more Grand Slam titles. Throw Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in that picture as well.
“That era had three of the all-time greats and everyone was saying what is going to happen when Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are gone.
“Then Alcaraz and Sinner show up. Sometimes there is a one or two-year gap before new players start to dominate, but it has happened right away with these two.”
When Rusedski assesses why Alcaraz and Sinner have developed a stranglehold on the sport, he believes both have brought very different qualities to the game.
“Alacarz exploded out and starting winning right away, just like Rafael Nadal did,” he added. “He has been amazing for the sport and to already have six Grand Slam titles is an incredible number.
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“Then you look at Sinner and the way he has used his skills as a skier to move around the court so effortlessly. I’ve never seen a player move like that before.
“You speak to other players and they say they just strike the ball so hard on both sides. Alex de Minaur said they strike it even harder than Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“The Roland Garros final they played this year was one of the best matches we have ever seen, including anything we saw from the Federer, Nadal and Djokovic match-ups.
“That tells you we are looking at two players here who are playing at another level, but whether they ever win as many titles as the ‘Big 3’, that’s a very different debate.
“You have to respect the longevity and the achievements of Roger, Rafa and Novak. Their records will be very tough to beat.”
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