Fans are eager to see a third star join Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in a new ‘big three’.
After years of being treated to an era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the ATP Tour is currently dominated by just two players.
The most promising contender to complete a new-look treble of superstars is Joao Fonseca, who recently capped off his first full season with a maiden ATP 500 title at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
The Brazilian, still just 19 years old, saw his ATP ranking soar from 113th to world number 28, and will hope to build on his game next season.
One star who has recently been discussed as the biggest threat to Alcaraz and Sinner is Felix Auger-Aliassime, but Paris Masters tournament director Cedric Pioline is ‘not convinced’ by the narrative.
Cedric Pioline discusses Felix Auger-Aliassime’s potential
In a press conference ahead of the Paris Masters final, Pioline was asked about Auger-Aliassime’s potential and whether he could challenge the ‘new two’ in the future.
The Frenchman responded: “It’s difficult to look ahead in time, because the consistency that it requires to be the potential third top guy and to be able to upset Sinner and Alcaraz, it’s a big challenge.
“All players, but also we from the outside, as spectators, we would like to see a top third guy. It would be nice to have a tripod.
“I am not convinced that this is the case, because he cannot mix all shots like Alcaraz, the creativity like Alcaraz, and the consistency as Sinner would have.
“But Sinner, two years, three years ago, didn’t have the same consistency either, so it requires a lot of work.
“He [Auger-Aliassime] had a knee tendinitis that disabled him for nearly a full season when he qualified for the Masters, and he managed to get back on track. So why not?”
In 2023, a year after his breakthrough season, Auger-Aliassime suffered a knee injury, which saw him sidelined for the majority of the grass swing.
While the rest of that year was not entirely successful, he has since bounced back in 2024 and 2025, and now looks to be back to his best.
Cedric Pioline says there are question marks around Joao Fonseca
Pioline touched on Fonseca’s recent success, stating: “What about Fonseca? His potential is quite impressive. But there are a lot of question marks.
“Will he stay on track? Will he exploit his full potential? Will he reach maturity fast enough or not? I don’t have a crystal ball, but what I wish, we have a new chapter opening.
“And we had a lot of concerns with the retirement of Murray, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic soon.
“Certainly, we have two wonderful players coming up that are just as attractive as the ones that I just mentioned, so maybe not next week, but in two, three weeks, there will be one standing out. I’m sure it will happen. But who? The question is open.”
For now, it certainly seems as though Alcaraz and Sinner are set to dominate the tour for the foreseeable future.
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