Novak Djokovic’s former coach Goran Ivanisevic has claimed that Jannik Sinner is better than Carlos Alcaraz when both players are playing at their best. Sinner and Alcaraz are the future of the sport and have already shown all the skills to go a long way in their respective career.
While Sinner kicked off the year by winning the Australian Open, Alcaraz won Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back. However, the Italian won the US Open after beating Novak Djokovic in the summit clash.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz and Sinner have shared a great rivalry so far with the former winning six whereas the latter has come on top on four occasions.
Sinner suffered seven losses in 73 matches this year, while Alcaraz has a slightly worse record having lost 10 of his 57 matches in the 2024 season.
Ivanisevic said on Tennis Majors, “They’re different players, but when they are both at their best, I feel that Sinner is better [than Alcaraz].
“He is more consistent throughout the match, whereas Alcaraz can go from hitting amazing shots to some easy errors. This year, Carlos had a few losses I couldn’t explain.”
On the other hand, Djokovic could not add to his Grand Slam tally of 24 this season but Ivanisevic feels the Serbian is still one of the best on the tour.
“When Novak really wants to play, he is still the best in the world, in my opinion,” Ivanisevic added. “The other thing is how much he wants to play and when. We saw at the Olympics – if he goes out on the court like that, then he can still win a Slam. Can Novak do it? Yes, he can. You can never write him off, I would never do that.”
Meanwhile, Ivanisevic feels the Paris Masters champion Alexander Zverev needs to be more consistent as Sinner and Alcaraz have been.
“Zverev has too many ups and downs,” claimed the 2001 Wimbledon champion. “He plays great up until some point, then comes a match where he really needs to put it together, where he needs to perform at his best – that’s when he fails, and against Alcaraz and Sinner, you need to be at your best always.
“If we move Novak out of the equation, they [Sinner and Alcaraz] will dominate.”
Sinner, Alcaraz, and Zverev will take part in the upcoming ATP Finals.
