Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the two players spearheading the post-Big Three era.
Novak Djokovic looked resigned after losing to Carlos Alcaraz, and the Serbian is by no means as formidable as he once was these days.
Last night, Alcaraz hailed Sinner after beating him in the US Open final to win the title for a second time and reclaim his place as the world’s number one player.
Alcaraz’s team looked extremely happy after the win, and it really was a special performance that the Spaniard produced to see off Sinner.
Despite the anticipation for matches involving Alcaraz and Sinner, the pair have created a problem which came to light during the US Open final.
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French Open final creates major issue for Alcaraz and Sinner
The French Open final is far and away the match of the year so far for 2025.
A five-hour and 29-minute slog saw Alcaraz come from two sets behind, save three Championship points and pick up the title in five sets from a stunned Sinner.
Sinner learnt a valuable lesson against Alcaraz in that Roland Garros match, and he bounced back to win Wimbledon a few weeks later.
However, since that fateful day in Paris, something just hasn’t felt right when it comes to games between Sinner and Alcaraz.
For starters, the Wimbledon final lacked fireworks. Alcaraz took the first set before losing three straight sets to a 6-4 scoreline.
Last night’s final was even worse, with Alcaraz winning three sets by 6-2, 6-1 and 6-4 scorelines, with Sinner taking his set 6-3.
Although the pair always throw up magic moments at some point during the match, they’ve just felt few and far between during the last two meetings between the two players.
Frankly, the French Open final set the bar for the dawn of a new era, and now, every match that doesn’t take off in such an emphatic manner will feel nothing short of underwhelming.
Sinner and Alcaraz need more competition
With the Big Three a thing of the past, any new rivalry will always draw comparisons first to the one which Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal had for many years.
Perhaps one of the reasons why their matches were so impressive was down to the fact that Djokovic was also in contention to win the big titles.
Maybe the matches between Sinner and Alcaraz wouldn’t be quite so stale and underwhelming if there was a third player who could step up and chip in with Grand Slam wins.
At the moment, it’s always going to be the case that Sinner and Alcaraz meet each other in the final at events, and perhaps that is tarnishing things a little bit.
A third wheel in this ever-competitive rivalry would be most welcome and hopefully it’s not too long before the two players can serve up a match with as much excitement as the French Open final did.
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