“There are a lot of ups and downs and it changes often” : Patrick Mouratoglou shares his opinion on the Sinner-Alcaraz debate
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have established themselves as the two best players on the planet this year, as the duo also shared the Grand Slam titles. While the Italian has won double the titles this year and also been crowned the year-end world no.1 by a landslide, it has been a different story when the duo has gone head-to-head.
Sinner-Alcaraz was played three times this year, with all the three wins going to the Spainard. Their overall head-to-head record now stands at 6-4 to Alcaraz, as the world no.3 has taken the bragging rights for this year.
But what makes Carlos Alcaraz get the upper hand over the Italian more often than not? French tennis coach and commentator Patrick Mouratoglou recently shared his take on the matter.
“When Alcaraz plays at his best, I think he’s able to be better than Sinner…. but Sinner always stable” : Patrick Mouratoglou
On the latest episode of the Eye of the Coach, the Frenchman revealed that while Alcaraz can be more lethal when he is at is best, it is the Italian who has the better consistency out of the two, and that is what makes this competition so close and interesting.
“Alcaraz can create more. He has this extra power and he can fight with him in terms of movement also.”
“The thing is, Alcaraz is making quite a lot of unforced errors whereas Sinner doesn’t, so the matches between them, there are a lot of ups and downs and it changes often.” Mouratoglou explained.
This point made by the Frenchman can very well describe the business end of the year, where the Spainard at times struggled with inconsistency and as a result was eliminated from tournaments sooner than expected. Meanwhile, Sinner has been winning trophies for fun ever since the start of the year, and it is with that consistency he is able to best his opponents without breaking a sweat. An example can be brought up from his matches against USA no.1 Taylor Fritz, who he defeated comfortably in both the US Open Final and the ATP Finals while the American was on a hot streak.
“When Alcaraz plays at his best, I think he’s able to be better than Sinner – but he cannot play like this a whole match, and Sinner is always stable.”
“Sinner can hit a winner on every single shot. That’s the feeling. You can never relax. You’re always in danger, always in every shot.” the 54-year-old added.
Sinner’s sheer consistency and Alcaraz’s relentlessness even while not playing his best tennis has what brought them to the top of the sport. The duo will again be in direct competitions next year, and most probably the year after that as well. We as fans should brace ourselves as we are going to watch this duo in many finals for years to come.
