Mats Wilander sparked this argument by claiming Sinner and his youthful competitor Carlos Alcaraz were playing tennis at a higher level than the ‘Big 3’ of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic in their heyday.
Given that those players have won a combined 66 Grand Slam championships, such a claim was bound to raise eyebrows, but it has now been supported by a couple of current top 10 players.
American Taylor Fritz suggested that Sinner and Alcaraz are playing at a level that makes them harder to play against than the ‘Big 3’ as he offered up these comments to the Tennis Channel.
“One thing both of those guys do is… their defence is incredible,” said Fritz.
“They don’t really play that much defence. When they are full on the run out in the corners, they just crush the ball.
“I can be in a backhand cross (court) rally with either one of them and if I hit a forehand, it’s got to be so good or else that next ball is getting just drilled huge cross court.
“They just play these lateral baseline points… like we used to see Nadal and Fed and most you saw Nadal and Novak have these long points, corner to corner.
“When Sinner and Alcaraz do it corner to corner, they have these same rallies but I swear they are hitting the ball ten miles an hour faster. It’s just crazy.”
Ruud has now backed up Fritz’s statements with a detailed explanation of how it feels to face Sinner after being defeated 6-1, 6-2 by the Italian in an ATP Finals last four encounter in Turin.
The intensity of Sinner’s ball striking, the punch he now possesses on his serve, and the degree of consistency he can operate at make the world number one a real headache for any opponent, and when asked to compare Djokovic and Sinner, Ruud went into startling detail in his assessment.
“In my opinion, because they play different tennis,” said the Norwegian.
“I mean, I think on TV it looks probably similar the way they play. But Jannik hits a faster ball than Novak. He doesn’t let you breathe.
“With Novak you can play rallies. Not going to say easier to play Novak because he’s the best in the history. At least with Novak you can play more rallies and not be terrified of Novak ripping, like, a bomb down the line or cross-court or these things.
“I don’t necessarily like to compare players because everyone has their own style. For me, you don’t realize how fast Jannik plays unless you watch him play live and you’re there in the stadium. On the TV, it’s not fair, the speed.
“I got to practice with him here earlier leading up to the tournament. He also kicked my ass there. In a way, I knew what I was facing today. Sometimes you feel like players might play even better in practice because they play with no pressure and such things. But today he played really well from the beginning until the end.
“I mean, I didn’t get a good start so I get stressed and overplay a bit. Even the points I played really well, he was there defending well. I ended up doing a stupid mistake at the end.
“I hope I can play Jannik more in the future ’cause it’s a really fun challenge even though today I lost badly.”
Comparing different eras in any sport is a tough task, but Sinner and Alcaraz are an extension of tennis generations that were dominated by Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
So it’s easy to draw parallels between the ‘Big 3’ of the last two decades and the ‘Big 2’ of the current ATP Tour.
Only when Sinner and Alcaraz can match the Grand Slam victories and other accomplishments of the legends who came before them will they be able to compete with the men’s game’s ultimate giants.
However, Fritz and Ruud’s statements confirm the hunch that a new era in men’s tennis has begun, with the delicious potential to be as spectacular as the one that preceded it.
