Following the departure of the end of the ‘Big 3′ era in men’s tennis, there were a few question marks about whether there is going to be a loss in interest for the sport among the fans. But Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s 5-hour and 29-minute-long battle at the 2025 French Open final yet again proved why tennis is still in safe hands. As per TNT Sports’ reports, their match drew 2.6 million viewers, which was in fact the most-watched French Open men’s final since 2021. While sharing his thoughts about this epic battle, Rafael Nadal said, “It was a match for the ages.” John Isner called it a “top five match of all time,” while Jack Sock put it inside the Top 3. American legend, John McEnroe, who was also doing the commentary, was left so impressed with these two that he even went on to claim that Alcaraz and Sinner could beat Nadal “at his best“. The rivalry between ‘Sincaraz‘ has now become the talk of the town, but who other than these two has a higher chance of matching their soaring high levels?
Talking about this rivalry, in 2022, when Carlos Alcaraz was asked if he thinks he and Sinner could be rivals for the next 10 or 15 years, he said, “I hope so (laughs)…I’m gonna say I hope to have a good rivalry with him, and I hope we fight for the best tournaments in the world.” The 2025 French Open marked their first of probably many meetings in the final of a major tournament. According to Alcaraz, he feels these match-ups not only excite the fans but also help them push further for greater success. Is there a chance of adding another name besides these two in tennis fans’ relentless chase for the new ‘Big 3′?
In a recent press conference, Carlos Alcaraz was asked who he thinks is the next person to join him and Sinner at the top of the game. Replying to that question, Carlitos said, “Well, I mean right now I know that there are a lot of people who are able to compete against everybody, against us for sure. I don’t know some young players…I mean, Zverev is always there. I mean obviously, he’s been talking about himself, and everybody knew that he’s struggling a little bit with his game, but he’s one of those players who are able to win everything. I mean everything he can...“
Zverev has reached the major finals three times in his career, including the 2025 AO final, where he lost to Jannik Sinner. At the French Open, he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in the final last year, but this year he went down to Novak Djokovic in the QF by four sets. So, it’s been a bit of tough luck for the German as of now. But other than Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz added, “I love some players that I’ve said before. I love watching Fils (Arthur Fils), for example. I think his potential is pretty high. Holger Rune, his potential is pretty high as well, but I don’t know they are already there. So I think it’s about time that they’re going to get closer and closer, but as I said right now, I think the beauty of tennis is that we’ve a lot of players who are able to make great results, play great tennis, and right now the draws are quite open.“
2025 Roland-Garros – Men s Single Final PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 8: Carlos Alcaraz of Spain competes against Jannik Sinner not seen of Italy during the Men s Single Final match on the day 15 of French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris, France on June 8, 2025. Mustafa Yalcin / Anadolu Paris France. Editorial use only. Please get in touch for any other usage. PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxTURxUSAxCANxUKxJPNxITAxFRAxAUSxESPxBELxKORxRSAxHKGxNZL Copyright: x2025xAnadoluxMustafaxYalcinx
Talking about draws, Carlos Alcaraz has been handed a daunting draw at the Queen’s Club Championships this year. He will be facing his compatriot, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in his first match, before getting into a probable encounter with Ben Shelton in the second round. Alcaraz also has Holger Rune and Grigor Dimitrov in his section of the draw. Overall, it’s really going to be an interesting battle to watch on the grass courts before the iconic 2025 Wimbledon Championships. But who other than these names put on by Alcaraz himself could be the real ones to watch out for when it comes to challenging him and Sinner on the bigger stages?
ATP legend adds a new name to the list of probable challengers for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
The 2025 French Open final was a perfect example of why Carlos Alcaraz’s rivalry with Jannik Sinner is pure class! With that, win at Roland Garros, Alcaraz has now taken his H2H record to 8-4 against the Italian. Those two have now combined to win each of the previous six Grand Slam tournaments. Talking about his level in that match, the Spaniard recently stated that he doesn’t think he can reach a better level than that, and in fact, Alcaraz also called that match against Sinner the “best match” that he has ever played.
Who has a bigger chance of matching the level of these two on the ATP Tour, though? Well, according to Adriano Panatta, “Alcaraz and Sinner are one or two steps above all the others, so we have to get used to seeing them almost always in the final because I don’t see who can beat them.“ However, having said that, he dismissed the chances of Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, and Jack Draper causing trouble for these two, but he named Lorenzo Musetti as the only player who could challenge Alcaraz and Sinner.
“The only one is perhaps Musetti because he is the one with the most talent of all the others, and in my opinion, in the future, he could be the one who will cause them problems, if obviously, he manages to improve something more in his game and his performance,” said Panatta. However, Jack Draper is quite optimistic about bridging the gap with these two.
“Can I get to that level? Yeah, I think so…I don’t know what I’m capable of yet, but I aspire to be at that level. What those guys are doing is setting the way and changing the game. Players like myself are going to be working very hard to get to that point,” said Draper. With Wimbledon knocking at the door, who among these tennis stars do you think can throw a major challenge towards the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz?
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