"This is not Federer-Nadal" - Serena Williams' ex-coach dismisses popular perception of Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner's rivalry

The tennis world is fascinated with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner so much that they are now comparing the duo with the Big Three, which includes Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It's easy to see why the comparison is almost constant, given how both Sinner and Alcaraz have dominated tennis in the last two years.

As far as comparisons go, Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou shared his honest feelings regarding the comparison. Firstly, he takes out Djokovic from the conversation, saying that tennis first had the "Big Two" of Federer and Nadal.

Going ahead, he acknowledged why there is a reason to believe Sinner is similar to Federer while Alcaraz is similar to Nadal, citing the similar matchups, where it appears that Sinner/Federer were the overall best players but came up short against Alcaraz/Nadal.

"He (Sinner) is often pictured as the 'real' No. 1, which leads to this perception, even more after his dominance at the ATP Finals : Sinner is better than anyone else, but Alcaraz is the best of the two," Mouratoglou wrote on LinkedIn. "Sorry, but I don’t buy it."

Mouratoglou discarded this comparison, noting how close the competitions between Sinner and Alcaraz have been.

"Even though Carlos leads their head-to-head, their matches are extremely close," the coach added. "The Roland-Garros final was decided by tiny details, nothing suggested that one player didn’t have the answers for the other. Technically, tactically, mentally, they are equals.

"What truly separates them is how they dominate everyone else. Jannik does it with focus, margin, and no fluctuations. Against most players, there’s simply nothing they can do. Carlos does it differently, with creativity, risk, explosive winners, and sometimes more ups and downs. But when he raises his level, no one can live with him. So no, this is not Federer–Nadal. It’s something new. Something unique. And honestly… we are incredibly lucky to witness it from the beginning."

Carlos Alcaraz ends the year as World No. 1 but Jannik Sinner won ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz ensured his No. 1 ranking after going unbeaten in the group stage of ATP Finals. He defeated Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Mussetti in the group stage to advance to the semifinal of the tournament held in Turin.

Meanwhile, Sinner also managed to stay unbeaten in his own group stage. In the semifinal, Alcaraz defeated Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, while the Italian defeated de Minaur to set up the perfect final date.

The final lasted only two sets, but both were very close. Eventually, Sinner came out on top, with a 7-6, 7-5 win.

Sinner lost three months in 2025 due to suspension, but still was very close to dethroning Alcaraz from the top. It remains to be seen if he continues to dominate in 2026.