Jim Courier has discussed why Jannik Sinner has been more consistent than Carlos Alcaraz this season.
The duo have certainly been the standout players on the ATP Tour this season and firmly established that a new era of tennis has well and truly arrived.
The players have 11 titles between them this season and most impressively, they split the four Grand Slams between them in 2024.
They also took their head-to-head rivalry to the next level, as each of their three encounters this year left viewers captivated and on the edge of their seats.
But there was one difference between the pair, which was discussed by pundit Jim Courier and coach Paul Annacone.
Jim Courier explains why Carlos Alcaraz loses more than Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner has enjoyed the best season of his career and has produced one of the best individual seasons of all time.
He has a tour-leading 67 wins for the year and just six defeats, 14 top 10 wins and of course claimed his first major titles at the Australian Open and US Open.
He has been more consistent than Carlos Alcaraz, who has also claimed two Grand Slams this year, but has suffered 11 defeats this season, almost double the amount of Sinner.
While Alcaraz and Sinner’s level of play is similar when both at their best, Courier thinks their different styles of play has continued to their different levels in consistency.
“Sinner is the ultimate test at the moment. Alcaraz is certainly a major test but there is more ups and downs in Alcaraz’s game,” Courier told the Tennis Channel Live podcast.
“When you look at his losses this season compared to Sinner’s, yes, he has beaten him three times in the head to head but Alcaraz will take those defeats sometimes because he just misses more,” Courier said.
“Sinner is more reliable, he is more steady, he is right here. That means you have to be right here, which is hard to sustain and he does it day in and day out and match in and match out.
“He can be at risk but then he somehow slides into those corners and turns points around which then turn matches around.”
Paul Annacone compares Carlos Alcaraz to a young Roger Federer
On the same Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Paul Annacone made an interesting comment about Alcaraz and where he is at in his career.
The 61-year-old described the Spaniard and his game like Roger Federer in the early years of his career, a player who had an abundance of talent but had yet to completely refine his game.
On the other hand, Annacone compared Sinner to Novak Djokovic, who the Italian has beaten twice in 2024.
“The best way to look at it for me is if you want to make an analogy, you look at Sinner like the Novak Djokovic model. He is not going to drop much”, Annacone said.
“He is going to be offensive out of the corners and get the first strike in. Alcaraz is absolutely electrifying but he is like a not quite mature Roger Federer.
“He is going to miss a couple, he’ll come in, he’ll stay back and do different things but he will be a little more vulnerable.”
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