Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominated the ATP Tour in 2025.
The two won a combined 14 titles and split all four Grand Slams between them, but former world number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recently suggested they would not enjoy the same success in a different era.
In an interview with Univers Tennis, Tsonga said: “What I would have liked to see is Alcaraz winning Roland Garros, but by beating Del Potro, Murray, Djokovic, Federer in the semifinals, and Nadal in the final.
Do you think Carlos Alcaraz will win the Australian Open in 2026?
“Because today they are head and shoulders above the rest. In a manner of speaking, there are only two of them now.”
Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, took to social media to contest Tsonga’s point.
Patrick Mouratoglou disagrees with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “I don’t agree with what Jo said. I don’t believe at all that those guys we’re talking about: Draper, Rune, de Minaur, Fritz, Shelton, Auger-Aliassime, are not very good or not dangerous.
“They’re huge players. Im sorry, Jo, but I’m not sure you’d have beaten them on a regular basis. He is referring to Wawrinka and Del Potro, who are unbelievable players for sure, but you see how unbelievable they are throughout the course of all their career.
“At 29 years old, Stan Wawrinka was a good player. Nothing else. At 31, he was a triple Grand Slam winner. Of course, the guys who have achieved their whole careers have more titles and potentially a few Grand Slams when others don’t.
“And don’t forget that Alcaraz and Sinner beat Djokovic with 23 Grand Slams to start winning Grand Slams.
“When Novak won three out of four Grand Slams, making the final of the fourth one, he lost to Alcaraz in this fourth one.
“And I don’t believe that saying that those guys (Sinner and Alcaraz) are winning that much because of the level of the other top 10 players is giving them the credit that they deserve 100%. The level is unbelievable. Unbelievable.”
Gilles Simon says Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could beat today’s contenders
Tsonga’s French compatriot, Gilles Simon, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say: “Jo would probably have a positive H2H with all the players mentioned.
“Because indeed they are all very strong, no problem there, but Jo was really very, very strong.”
Though he retired in 2022, Tsonga has come up against a number of players from the current crop of contenders to Sinner and Alcaraz.
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He played Felix Auger-Aliassime in his final season on the tour, and lost to the Canadian in straight sets.
In 2019, Tsonga faced Taylor Fritz at the Monte-Carlo Masters, but was forced to retire mid-match due to injury.
During the same season, he beat Alex de Minaur in their first and only meeting, overcoming the Australian at the Brisbane International.
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