Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz told why their rivalry cannot be compared to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s

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Carlos Alcaraz’s rivalry with Jannik Sinner is shaping up to be one of the greatest tennis has ever seen.

The Spaniard and the Italian have met 15 times already at tour-level events, with three of their bouts coming in Grand Slam finals.

In 2025, Alcaraz and Sinner have played each other on five separate occasions, and every clash has been in a championship match.

Having split all four majors between them for the second year in a row, many fans have drawn parallels between the ‘new two’ and the ‘big three’ era, which initially began with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal‘s rivalry.

However, Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, says Sinner and Alcaraz’s ongoing battle cannot be compared with that of Federer and Nadal’s.

Patrick Mouratoglou discusses Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “You can not compare the rivalry of Roger and Rafa with the rivalry of Jannik and Carlos.

“Before the big three, there was a big two; it was Roger and Rafa. They were winning everything until a little Serbian [Novak Djokovic] came into the mix and changed the whole thing.

“At the moment, we have a big two as well with Carlos and Jannik. They’re dominating outrageously on the tour.

“It is true that when Rafa and Roger were dominating, Roger was the best, but Rafa was beating Roger in the matchup between them.”

Nadal and Federer’s career head-to-head finished 24-16 in favour of the Spanish legend.

The Frenchman continued: “At the moment, I cannot say that Carlos really has an edge over Jannik. I think they’re so close in terms of level.

“If you look at the matches, especially the Roland Garros final, you can see that the difference is almost nothing in a match.

“Even though Carlos has won many more times against Jannik than Jannik has against Carlos, if you look at the matches, they’re crazy close.

“So, I can’t say that it’s the same as what was happening with Roger and Rafa, but I think both of the guys are really dominating everybody, so it’s a different situation.”

Carlos Alcaraz’s close matches with Jannik Sinner in 2025

Despite Alcaraz beating Sinner in four of their five matchups this season, the meetings have been incredibly close.

Sinner had three match points in the final of Roland Garros, but conceded the treble of opportunities, with Alcaraz coming back to win in five sets.

Both their Wimbledon and US Open matches were closely contested four-setters, and their Cincinnati Open final ended abruptly following Sinner’s retirement.

Since the beginning of the 2024 season, only one of their matchups has been won in straight sets; the 2025 Italian Open final.