Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have set the bar outrageously high in men’s tennis over the past few years.
The ‘new two’, both still in their early 20s, have already recorded Grand Slam tallies that match some legends of the game.
Sinner recently captured his fifth major title at Wimbledon, while Alcaraz secured his seventh at the Australian Open earlier this year, which is as many as John McEnroe.
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The Spaniard and the Italian have delivered some outstanding matches in their rivalry, particularly the 2025 French Open final.
As well as making each other better, they have also forced the rest of the ATP Tour to up their games, which Tommy Paul‘s coach, Brad Stine, recently touched on.
Brad Stine details the changes in Tommy Paul’s game
Asked about facing Alcaraz and Sinner in an interview with Tennis Channel, Stine said: “We pushed Tommy to become a little bit more of a shot maker, a little bit more aggressive with his basic ground strokes and hitting style so that he’s trying to take a little bit more time away from that.
“And to be honest, that was a result of him, you know, having lost to those two guys in some big matches, big opportunities, quarterfinals at Wimbledon against Carlos, round of 16 [at the US Open] against Jannik.
“We felt like Tommy’s attacking style lends itself to having an opportunity to beat those guys, but that he needed to be a little bit bigger and more aggressive in the key moments of the matches.
“And as much as Tommy plays aggressive tennis, I don’t think people, unless you’re around him, you don’t realise that Tommy is a bit of a risk-averse person as a tennis player. He’s not as a human being, but on the tennis court, he hates missing balls.
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“It has been drilled into his head for a really long time since he was young that you don’t make unforced errors.
“And so it took a little bit of stress and pressure to get him to try and be willing to play a little bit bigger.
“With that comes making a few more errors, but the trade-off, I think, is what he needed to do to try and beat those guys.”
Tommy Paul’s record against Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Paul has faced Alcaraz and Sinner several times at tour-level events, and, like many, has a losing record against both.
The American has won just one match in his head-to-head with Sinner, which he trails 4-1.
His sole victory came in Eastbourne during the 2022 season, but since then, Sinner has won each of the previous three meetings, including a fourth-round clash at the 2024 US Open.
Paul has had slightly more luck against Alcaraz, having beaten him twice, with both of the wins coming at the Canadian Open; once in 2022 and again in 2023.
After Paul’s second triumph in Canada, however, Alcaraz has gone on a five-match winning streak against him.
Alcaraz’s five wins have all been clinched at big events, including one at the Cincinnati Open, three at Grand Slams and one at the Olympic Games.
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