Serena Williams' ex-coach reveals what Carlos Alcaraz MUST do to escape Jannik Sinner nightmare in 2026

Serena Williams' former coach highlighted the areas Carlos Alcaraz needs to improve on to vanquish Sinner in the upcoming season. The French coach commended Sinner for a unique feature, not evident in the Big Three either.

Jannik Sinner triumphed at last year’s Australian Open and has been one of the most dominant players on tour, going toe-to-toe with Carlos Alcaraz. He won the year-end Championships title in 2024 and carried his excellence into 2025, successfully defending his title in Melbourne, claiming his fourth Major at Wimbledon, and capping the year by defending his ATP Finals crown. Although he lost the top ranking to the Spaniard, Sinner showcased skills and consistency that left an indelible mark on enthusiasts and coaches alike.

Recently, Serena Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, highlighted a unique feature of Sinner that even the Big Three - Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic failed to balance. He also said that Alcaraz has to improve his game to outclass the Italian in 2026.

"If he [Carlos Alcaraz] wants to dominate 2026, improvements must start with the first two shots, serve, and return. Because Jannik is currently No.1 in the world in serve+1 AND return+1. That's unique. We've had players dominate one side of that equation, Roger on serve+1, Rafa and Novak on the return, but never both. This is something new in tennis history."

Alcaraz ended the season with 12,050 ranking points, while Sinner finished with 11.500, leaving the entire field of players far behind as World No. 3 only totaled 5,160 at the end of the year.

Serena Williams' ex-coach explained why Jannik Sinner needs to be spared after Italy's win at the Davis Cup

Sinner at the Nitto ATP Finals 2025 - Day 8 - Source: Getty

Jannik Sinner has helped Italy win two Davis Cup titles, and when he announced his withdrawal this year, he received backlash. Now that Italy has defended the title in Sinner’s absence, Rennae Stubbs cut him some slack and emphasized why he deserved to rest.

"We have to talk about Davis Cup. Italy wins their third Davis Cup in a row, without Jannik Sinner. And remember I was like, well, everyone was like, upset at him for not playing and all this sort of stuff. I'm like, dude, the guy's just had an incredibly long year. He's just won the last tournament of the year. He's exhausted," she said in her eponymous podcast.

Sinner won 24 Tour-level titles and became the first Italian to reach the top ranking.