The newly appointed coach of Elena Rybakina believes Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the two best players at Grand Slam tournaments when Novak Djokovic is taken out of the equation.
Goran Ivanisevic has hailed the duo who are currently ranked first and third in the PIF ATP rankings heading into the ATP Finals in Turin. Between them, they have won 11 titles this season (seven for Sinner and four for Alcaraz) which include all of the major events. They are also the two youngest players currently ranked in the world’s top 10.
As for which one of them is the better player, Ivanisevic gives the honor to Sinner when they are both playing at their best.
“They’re different players, but when they are both at their best, I feel that Sinner is better,” Ivanisevic told Tennis Majors.
“He is more consistent throughout the match, whether Alcaraz can go from hitting amazing shots to some easy errors. This year, Carlos had a few losses I couldn’t explain… If we move Novak out of the equation, they will dominate, they are way above anyone else on the Tour.”
Separating Sinner and Alcaraz in the rankings is world No.2 Alexander Zverev who recently won his first hardcourt Masters 1000 title since 2021 in Paris. He is a two-time Grand Slam finalist and has also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open twice. However, Ivanisevic believes the German is no match for his peers.
“Zverev has too many ups and downs,” he said. “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.”
Speaking to reporters in Paris on Sunday, Zverev pointed out that he aiming to improve his game further for the new season. He has won 66 matches so far this year which is the most on the ATP Tour ahead of second place Sinner (65).
“I’m happy with the final. I’m happy with the tournament. Of course, I’m sitting here with the trophy from a Masters 1000 event, but there are still some things I want to improve, and this is a process of a few months, and I’m improving for next year already hopefully.” Zverev commented.
Sinner, Alcaraz and Zverev will return to action in less than a week at the ATP Finals which has a total prize money pool of $15,250,000.
