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Frances Tiafoe recently delivered an elaborate take on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The Spaniard and Italian have firmly established themselves as the two players to beat in contemporary men's singles tennis, but according to Tiafoe, they aren't "unbeatable".
Speaking to former No. 1 and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick on a recent episode of the 'Served' podcast, Frances Tiafoe compared Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to some tennis legends from the past. Opining that the Spaniard has qualities that remind him of the 'Big Four' of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, the American said:
"In comparison to the Big Four, I think Carlos is a combination of all of them."
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Subsequently, the former No. 10 and three-time career singles titlist compared Sinner to Djokovic and Andre Agassi, saying:
"And Sinner with the Novak movement and Agassi-like with everything on the hop and just playing super fast and you feel like you can't see any space against him."
Despite Alcaraz and Sinner's dominance, Tiafoe laid bare his optimism in terms of the chances of the rest of the ATP Tour doing well at the big tournaments. Citing surprise 2025 Shanghai Masters champion Valentin Vacherot's example, the American said:
"It seriously is open from No. 3 to 200 with the guy (Vacherot) winning Shanghai. It's open, so, it's exciting times in that sense."
Next, Tiafoe rejected the notion that the Spaniard and Italian are 'unbeatable'.
"I still don't think these guys are unbeatable. I struggle to believe that," he added.
Frances Tiafoe reveals Carlos Alcaraz battle he believes he should have made more of
Frances Tiafoe and Carlos Alcaraz have so far faced each other in three competitive matches. The American won their maiden competitive meeting at the 2021 Barcelona Open. The next two, though, went the Spaniard's way, albeit by extremely narrow margins. Both of them were contested at two of the four tennis Majors.
In the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, Alcaraz edged Tiafoe in a five-set thriller. However, the two sets the American did win on the night went all the way to tiebreaks, while the three sets the Spaniard won were relatively straightforward.
Things were different at last year's Wimbledon Championships, where the rivals squared off again, this time in a third-round affair. Here, Tiafoe gave Alcaraz a much tougher fight than he did in their US Open clash in 2022. Ultimately, though, it still wasn't enough as the Spaniard had the last laugh. According to Tiafoe, this was the match that he still feels could have gone his way.
"I've played Carlos twice (at Majors) and he won both Slams and I lost to him in five. Missed out on it. I've got to be honest with you. Last year at Wimbledon, I feel that's when I let one go," Tiafoe told Andy Roddick on the 'Served' podcast.
However, Frances Tiafoe admitted following his loss to Carlos Alcaraz at SW19 last year that despite the loss, his overall performance against the Spaniard was a confidence-booster.
