Tennis is said to have changed in a way that favors Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner dominated tennis again in 2025.

For the second year in a row, Alcaraz and Sinner shared the four Grand Slams evenly amongst themselves.

Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while Alcaraz won the French Open and the US Open.

Ranked number one and two in the world, the pair lead world number three Alexander Zverev by a whopping 6,340 points.

But why are Sinner and Alcaraz so dominant on the ATP Tour?

During the latest episode of ‘Deejay Chiama Italia‘, Italian tennis legends Adriano Panatta and Paolo Bertolucci answered that very question.

Adriano Panatta says everyone playing the same benefits Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

1976 French Open champion Panatta shared his thoughts on how tennis has changed in a way that favors the world number one and two.

“If you look at the world rankings in the 1970s, all the top ten had won at least one Grand Slam. There was much more balance than today,” he said.

1975 year-end top 10

“The current situation sees two players who never lose. The style of play has become uniform.

“Bjorn Borg and Guillermo Vilas always won when they faced players who played like them. Then they’d face me or John McEnroe and lose because we played differently.

“Today, everyone plays the same way, and so the level between those two and the others is rising every year; their opponents are all very far apart.”

2025 year-end top 10

Panatta’s fellow Italian, Bertolucci, proceeded to weigh in with his thoughts, explaining how tennis has changed over the last decade or so.

“In the heyday of the Big 3, there were also other players capable of entering the fray like [Juan Martin] Del Potro, [Stan] Wawrinka, or [Jo-Wilfried] Tsonga,” he said.

“There was definitely a lot more competition; now there are only two men in command.”

50 years ago, nine of the top 10 finished their career with at least one Grand Slam title to their name.

Today, it’s just Alcaraz, Sinner, and Novak Djokovic who have won majors among the top 10.

Perhaps 2026 will be the year that someone breaks through and wins their first Grand Slam…

Who could win their first Grand Slam at the Australian Open?

The three favorites for the 2026 Australian Open are, of course, Sinner, Alcaraz, and Djokovic.

But that’s not to say the rest of the top 10 can’t challenge.

World number three Zverev reached the final in Melbourne this year and has performed well on Rod Laver Arena since 2020.

Alexander Zverev’s record at the Australian Open

• 2020 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in SF to Dominic Thiem
• 2021 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in QF to Novak Djokovic
• 2022 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in 4R to Denis Shapovalov
• 2023 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in 2R to Michael Mmoh
• 2024 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in SF to Daniil Medvedev
• 2025 Australian Open – Alexander Zverev lost in F to Jannik Sinner

Another player to look out for is Great Britain’s Jack Draper, who made a real step forward in 2025.

Draper was arguably the third-best player on tour for the first half of the year before injuries brought his ATP Tour season to a close.

Should he rediscover that form in the new year, don’t be surprised to see Draper challenging for Grand Slams in 2026.

Only time will tell who will emerge victorious at next year’s Australian Open, but you certainly won’t want to miss any of the action.

The 2026 Australian Open is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 18.