“When Carlos faces Jannik, no one can say who’s going to win,” Coach Patrick Mouratoglou said. 
Photo credit: Kelly DeFina/Getty
Powerful point builder Jannik Sinner constructed historical rise in Melbourne Park.
World No. 1 Sinner shredded Alexander Zverev to successfully defend his Australian Open crown, become the first Italian to win three Grand Slam singles tiles and stretch his Grand Slam hard-court winning streak to 21 matches.
More: Sinner and Cahill to Part After 2025
Sinner stands alone as world No. 1, but he’s not necessarily the world’s best says Coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
At his best, Carlos Alcaraz, the last man to beat Sinner, is as good as the reigning Australian Open and US Open champion, says Mouratoglou in a Instagram video analysis.
“Jannik is not above everyone; I don’t think he’s above Carlos,” Mouratoglou said. “I think when Carlos is at his best there is a real match and I’m not sure who is going to win.
“Nobody can say who is going to win. An all their matches have been extremely close, extremely uncertain and Carlos won some big ones against him. So I wouldn’t say that [Sinner] is above [Alcaraz].
“Those two—[Jannik] and Carlos—are above everyone else.”
Pointing to the fact the pair split Slam spoils last season—Alcaraz won his maiden Roland Garros title and successfully defended Wimbledon and Sinner bookended the season seizing majors in Melbourne and New York—and that Alcaraz has beaten Sinner in six of 10 meetings, Mouratoglou says you can’t rank the three-time Grand Slam champion ahead of the four-time major title holder.
Sinner has won 80 of his last 86 matches with three of those six losses coming to Spanish superstar Alcaraz at Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Beijing last season.
Mouratoglou, who coaches Naomi Osaka, said Sinner and Alcaraz are both brilliant playing two different styles.
Sinner is at his best repeatedly pulverizing high-powered blasts into the corner, while Alcaraz’s ability to alter pace and deliver unsettling unpredictability is his asset, Coach Patrick said.
“Carlos is making many more unforced errors than him,” Mouratoglou said. “Carlos is playing with much more risk.
“The quality of Sinner is that he plays at a crazy high pace without missing—and that’s really his asset,” Mouratoglou said. “The asset of Carlos is that he has this incredible power in the racquet and also the ability to change rhythm. He goes at a certain pace and suddenly—Bam!—accelerates the pace like crazy.
“Jannik is simply hitting everything at the same pace, which is extremely high. So it’s different.”
The 21-year-old Alcaraz told Tennis Now he feels a different energy facing the 23-year-old-Sinner because of their past battles and because of the buzz their showdown creates with tennis fans.
“I feel a little bit different playing him because I feel all the people want to see our matches,” Alcaraz told Tennis Now. “When the draw is out, everybody is talking about possible quarterfinal, semifinal or final between Jannik and me. So when the people is talking about that it feels like ‘Okay, our matches are a little bit different.’
“Personally, I think the matches we played [in 2024] and during our whole careers, has been special, close matches, intense matches, you know three sets, fifth sets. So I think those matches help the tennis industry, attract people to watch tennis.”
Defeating Sinner in all three of their 2024 meetings, Alcaraz said he respects the US Open champion too much to needle him about it, though he confessed he has joked with his friends about it.
“I didn’t joke with him about it but I joke with my friends,” Alcaraz said. “I joke with my friends I cannot lie. I saw a lot of comparisons for example in 2005-2006, Federer was 45-0 against players not named Nadal.
“So for me, it makes me feel good: beating the best player in the world, who has had one of the best seasons ever…So it makes me feel great and makes me feel, you know, I’m pretty good player. I can beat the No. 1. But the season he has done is history for tennis.”