Everyone in the tennis community is currently abuzz with the praises for Carlos Alcaraz. The young Spaniard who recently made the King of Clay admit that “he’s going to be one of the best in history”, is currently celebrating his massive victory in Wimbledon. However, despite the enormous line of achievements, it seems like the 21-year-old has fallen short of pleasing Roger Federer‘s former coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who believes that his rival Jannik Sinner is the ultimate pick.
In a recent interview with L’Equipe, he said, “Between Wimbledon last year and Roland-Garros this year, he had only won at Indian Wells…Everyone was wondering: ‘Where is Alcaraz?’ Being unplayable may only last for a moment. Besides, in the Race, Sinner is always number 1.”
Alcaraz’s achievements this season are nothing short of remarkable. At 21 years and 1 month old, he became the youngest player to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces. Along with that, he also became the youngest player to win the Channel Slam.
Sinner, on the other hand, stands to be his biggest rival with a remarkable 2024 season. He won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and therefore became the first Italian player to do so. He also recorded his 200th win at the Rotterdam Open, surpassed Novak Djokovic to attain the world no.1 position, becoming the highest-ranked Italian player in history. His victory at the debut tournament as World No. 1 at the Halle Open made it clear that his reign had just begun.
Besides, Ljubicic’s statement, Alcaraz himself admits the challenge Sinner poses against his lead. “Every time that I’m going to face Jannik I’m going to get nervous… That’s for sure, because I know that I have to play 100 percent if I want to beat him,” Alcaraz admitted in a recent interview.
