Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner proved again in Sunday’s French Open final what we already knew: theirs is the best rivalry in tennis.
Alcaraz came back from two sets down and saved triple-championship point before outlasting Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) in five hours and 29 minutes. The second-ranked Spaniard has now won five times in a row against Sinner to take a 9-4 lead in the head-to-head series (8-4 on the main tour).
Yes, five straight is a lot. But it’s not like this isn’t a rivalry–and it’s not like Alcaraz is dominating their matches. Consider this little-known but absolutely unbelievable statistic: all 15 of their meetings have featured either a final set or at least one tiebreaker. In other words, there has not been a single blowout. In 15 encounters, Alcaraz has defeated Sinner prior to a final set only three times. By comparison, Sinner has twice finished off Alcaraz prior to a final set.
It for darn sure is a rivalry–and an epic one, too.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach, was asked about the significance of Sunday’s championship match and he immediately referenced the Big 3–Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Between them, those three all-time greats produced three of tennis’ most memorable rivalries.
“For sport it’s something amazing to have these players after Roger, Rafa, and Novak–(who) is still playing, of course,” Ferrero commented. “This kind of rivalry that they have, having these two guys fighting for big trophies, I think we have to be very happy about it in the sport of tennis.
“For them, for sure it’s something that they raise their level every time that they go on the court. They know they have to play unbelievable tennis to beat the other guy, and it’s something that is going to help for sure each player to raise the level even more.”
Raising the level even more? That’s a scary thought for the rest of the tour.
JCF!
It’s an exciting time in the world of tennis, the sport is in great hands 🎾
Yeah, the Golden Era started by the Big Three just continues.
Let’s not forget Murray who was a very successful player in his own right
I dont forget him at all. He won three Slams in the era , should really be included there , maybe Big Three and a half?
The big 3 and Murray, and if that doesn’t sound patronising I don’t know what does
I always rooted for Murray , the one player I didn’t mind beating Fed . He didn’t win as many titles as the others .Sometimes people say big three, others big 4, not much to be read into that.
I think fans of the other 3 all said they liked Murray, as I dont think they saw him as a threat, if he had of been they might have felt very different, he should’ve won more, been more of a challenge to the other three, then people might be felt very different hmm something we will never know, sadly didn’t work out that way
I would’ve preferred him to win more and be more hated