Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner's challengers in 2026: Jim Courier and Mark Petchey name their picks, and neither has Ben Shelton or Taylor Fritz

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner continue to be way ahead than rest of the field as they finished another year taking home all major titles and the ATP Finals as well. Alcaraz won Roland Garros and the US Open, while Sinner won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the ATP Finals.

As such, the discussion among tennis circles is that if there will be any potential challenger in 2026 that could rival the modern 'Big 2.' One would assume that, given the emergence of American tennis stars like Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, analysts would pick them, but Jim Courier and Mark Petchey picked neither of them.

Mark Petchey picks Canadian star that can defeat Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2026

Former British player Petchey actually went with Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was in the semifinal of both the US Open and ATP Finals.

“I’m going to choose Félix Auger-Aliassime," Petchey said via Tennis Channel. "I love the way he plays, I know he’s been playing under a roof for the last two months, which might be clouding my judgment a little."

Petchey said that Auger-Aliassime's maturity level has increased, and he has the weapons to go toe-to-toe against Sinner and Alcaraz.

"But all four Grand Slam tournaments now have roofs, so he could have the luxury of playing under one," Petchey added. "I like how he’s matured over the last three or four months, I like how he played at the US Open, and he has some formidable weapons. When I look at Jannik and Carlos, I think that if you don’t have enough power, they’ll beat you every time.”

Auger-Aliassime is 2-4 against Jannik Sinner and 3-5 against Carlos Alcaraz in head-to-head matchups.

Jim Courier went with Jack Draper as the best challenger for Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Jim Courier picked Jack Draper, who peaked with a No. 4 ranking in June. Courier shared his reasons for saying so, citing his formidable serve and explosive forehand.

“I’m betting on Jack Draper," Courier said. "If he’s as healthy as he was at Indian Wells, he can compete with the best. His left-handed serve is formidable, his forehand is explosive; he just needs to be fully fit."

However, Courier put one condition on that claim. Draper needs to be fully fit if he has even a chance to defeat the modern top-ranked players.

"He injured his arm after Wimbledon this year," Courier added. "He had a bone bruise and a stress fracture. I haven’t seen much of him lately, but from some podcasts I’ve listened to, it seems he’ll be back soon and ready to do some training sessions during the off-season to get back into competition. We’ll see if Jack can make it. He did reach the US Open semifinals in 2024, after all.”

Jack Draper is 2-4 against Carlos Alcaraz and 1-1 against Jannik Sinner in head-to-head matchups.

Apart from these two, there are other notable stars as well, like Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, who are older but have the skills to take down both of the top-ranked players.