Mats Wilander dominated the circuit in the late 80s and was fascinated with the level of the two great jewels of current tennis.
Rivalries in tennis were, are and will be a driving force for players. It seems to be necessary to have a specific rival – sportingly – to raise the level to the maximum. In the 70s there were Connors, McEnroe, Vilas and Borg, in the 90s the protagonists were Sampras and Agassi, and in the 2000s and 2010s Federer, Nadal and Djokovic dominated the circuit.
At the moment, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the two most decisive players on the circuit and who divided the four Grand Slams of the year: with Australia and the US Open for the Italian and Roland Garros and Wimbledon for the Spanish.
Mats Wilander is a former Swedish player who was world number 1 in 1988 and maintained that position for 20 weeks. Without a doubt, that year 88 was a dream for him since he was able to win the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open. To those three important titles we must add four more, so the account shows that Wilander obtained seven Grand titles. Slam, he also participated in seven consecutive Davis Cup finals in the 1980s.
Wilander, dazzled by Sinner and Alcaraz
“When Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are at their best, no one has played better tennis than them. I hope that Roger, Novak and Rafa are not listening, but in terms of level, when Sinner and Alcaraz are at their best, there is no way that anyone has played better tennis,” said Mars Wilander in dialogue with Eurosport.
It is difficult to compare one historical moment with another, especially because Alcaraz and Sinner, despite being extraordinary players and having won Grand Slam titles, are just at the beginning of their careers. They still have – if the physique helps them – between ten and fifteen more years of career, so making such a blunt analysis seems to be hasty on Wilander’s part.
Sport is emotion, it is passion and the reality is that what the Big 3 did for more than fifteen years was amazing and unprecedented in the history of tennis. Until they dominated the circuit, the biggest winner of Grand Slam titles was Pete Sampras with 14. Federer reached 20, Nadal 22 and Djokovic is on 24 and can add even more because he is extremely current.
But beyond titles and statistics, what Federer, Nadal and Djokovic awakened goes in another direction. They generated fanaticism all over the world, they were owners of very different, but exciting styles. Without a doubt, Alcaraz and Sinner are on that path and, most likely, in ten years they will still be talked about.
