John Lloyd explains why he’s ‘concerned’ about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner ahead of the 2026 season

Former British tennis player John Lloyd reckons the lack of competition for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is a concerning sign for the sport ahead of the 2026 season. 

Sinner and Alcaraz share a great rivalry, and there is no doubt that these two have been the two best players on the tour in the last couple of seasons. The duo has also shared the last eight Slams between them.

Barring the Australian Open final, Alcaraz and Sinner met each other in the Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and US Open finals. 

While Alcaraz won the Roland Garros and US Open against Sinner, the Italian won the Wimbledon and Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in 2025 against the Spaniard. Sinner had championship points in the French Open final but Alcaraz was able to bounce back strongly. 

While World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has 12,050 official points under his belt, Sinner, the second-ranked player in the PIF ATP rankings, has 11,500 points. The World No.3 Alexander Zverev has 5160 points in his bag.

In an interview with the Inside-In Tennis podcast, John Lloyd said: “I am a little bit concerned about next year.

“You always think that someone is going to come through and challenge but at the moment I look at Slams, because that is the bread and butter of our sport, and I look at it and think if one of them at one of the majors, which will happen at one stage, gets injured or gets a day where someone plays lights out.

“You are going to have such a weak half of the draw in terms of names. You almost feel like you might as well give it to the other one right away. At the Slams you want it to be competitive all the way through but these two have just separated themselves. It’s amazing to watch how great they are.”

Alcaraz has a 10-6 Win-Loss record in head-to-head battle against Sinner.