Patrick Mouratoglou shuts down claims of Jannik Sinner’s superiority: "It’s not true that he is way above Alcaraz"

Patrick Mouratoglou explained the differences between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz that make one seem more dominant than the other. The Italian and the Spaniard have taken the lead on the ATP Tour, splitting seven Grand Slam titles in recent years.

Following the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the ATP has seen the emergence of two great stars who seem poised to dominate the Tour in the coming years. Sinner, 23, has established himself as World No. 1 with remarkable consistency, while Alcaraz, 21, has claimed several major titles, winning their most recent encounters.

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In 2024, Sinner and Alcaraz’s long-expected dominance materialised, as both claimed two Grand Slam titles. Jannik secured both hardcourt Slams at the Australian Open and US Open, while Carlitos completed the Channel Slam by winning the French Open and Wimbledon.

The Spaniard has struggled with consistency, remaining World No. 3 and suffering several early exits throughout the year, leaving him far behind Sinner in ATP ranking points. However, Mouratoglou does not believe the World No. 1 is truly above the Spaniard.

“Jannik Sinner is not above everyone. I don’t think he is above Carlos [Alcaraz],” he said. “I think when Carlos is at his best, it’s a real match, and I’m not sure who is going to win—nobody can say who’s going to win.”

“All of their matches have been extremely close, extremely uncertain, and Carlos has won some big ones against him, so I wouldn’t say he is above. I think those two players—him and Carlos—are above everyone else,” added Naomi Osaka’s coach.

“Carlos is making many more unforced errors than him; he’s playing with much more risk,” he said. “The quality of [Jannik] Sinner is that he plays at a crazy high pace without missing, and that’s really his asset,” Mouratoglou stated.

“The asset of Carlos is that he has incredible power in his racket and also the ability to change rhythm. He goes at a certain pace and then accelerates like crazy,” he added. “Jannik simply plays at the same extremely high pace all the time.”

“So, the fact that Carlos is making more errors may make him look less dominant in matches against other players, but he has so much margin—it’s crazy.”

The Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry currently favours the Spaniard 6-4, including three consecutive wins in 2024. “When he faces Jannik, nobody can say who is going to win,” Mouratoglou stated. “Look at the achievements—both won two Grand Slams last year, and Carlos, for now, has one more Grand Slam than Jannik and is actually younger. So I don’t think we can say that Jannik is way above Carlos—that’s not true.”

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