France’s
Gael Monfils believes that it is unfair to compare
Italy’s
Jannik Sinner and Spain’s
Carlos Alcaraz so early in their career with
the original ‘Big Three’. The original ‘Big Three’ consisted of
Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic.
Those three players dominated men’s tennis for a good part of three decades. With Federer and Nadal already retired and Djokovic going a full season without winning a Grand Slam in seven years, there have been talks about a change of guard in men’s tennis.
Those discussions intensified by some incredible
performances from Sinner and Alcaraz, as the two ended up sharing all four Grand Slams in 2024. Sinner won the Australian and US Open, whereas the young Spaniard lifted the French Open and Wimbledon titles. The Italian tennis star also lifted the ATP Finals, where he defeated America’s Taylor Fritz in
the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4.
French veteran tennis star Monfils was recently quoted in a report by Tennis 365, where he discussed the incredible talent of
Sinner and Alcaraz. However, the 38-year-old was of the opinion that despite their
achievements, it is unfair to compare two such young players with three greats
of the game, that too so early in their careers.
“Of course, Jannik had an incredible year and Carlos as
well, but we need to give it to Jannik because his record was just insane,”
said Monfils. “It’s been an unbelievable year for him and on the numbers, he
has to be the best player this year. It’s tough to compare Jannik and Carlos
with the ‘Big 3’. These guys are still young, so let’s wait and see. Maybe in
five years, ten years. Then comparisons will be easier. Now Carlos is 21, so
it’s really tough to compare him to someone like Novak, who is 37 and has won
so many Slams. What we can say is these two guys are doing it in a way that
will give them a chance to match the legends in our sport.”