Ivanisevic speaks; "Sinner or Alcaraz? at their best Sinner is stronger"

[Winner Sinner]

Sinner or Alcaraz? “They are different players, but when they are both at their best, I think Sinner is better. He is more consistent throughout the match, as Alcaraz goes from incredible shots to some gratuitous errors. This year, Carlos has had some defeats that I can't explain... If we take Novak out of the equation, they will dominate, they are far above anyone else in the Tour."


This is how Ivanisevic sees the well-known Sinner-WADA issue: “I sincerely hope they leave him alone and let him play, tennis needs Sinner. With (Marin) Cilic, I had to deal with WADA and people like that, a lot of people who I didn't like, who just wanted to destroy someone's life. I hope the outcome is positive for Sinner."

The inevitable question about Djokovic, who unless he appears - and wins - at the ATP Finals, will end 2024 without titles, except Olympic gold. “I don't know if Novak is motivated and how much, but the moment he decides to play, it means he wants it. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are definitely superior to everyone else, but I put Novak in the group with them because when Novak really wants to compete he is still the best in the world, in my opinion. We saw it at the Olympics… if he takes the court like that, then he can still win a Slam. Also, it depends on his ranking and the draw, when he faces Sinner or Alcaraz, many factors, but can Novak do it? Yes, it can. You can never give it up, I would never do it."

 

[Pheasant]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

 

[Tennfan123]

He’ll say anything.
Probably wants a coaching gig.

 

[Winner Sinner]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

Very optimistic forecast.

I think that if Djokovic reaches 25 slams he will already be dripping fat.

 

[BauerAlmeida]

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017.

I don't think he'll be that good. I think he can be at the level Federer was in 2019 if he gets his motivation back.

 

[Hitman]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

That is your prediction for Djokovic?

 

[Pheasant]

That is your prediction for Djokovic?

Yeah. I will never write that dude off. It’s possible that I am underestimating Alcaraz and Sinner. But Djoker will make some more deep runs.

 

[weakera]

Language issue for Goran? He is literally contradicting himself. He clearly explains that while Sinner is steadier and more consistent, Alcaraz experiences higher peaks and lower valleys. Therefore, "at their best" he is claiming Alcaraz is better.

Makes no sense.

 

[Djokovic_is_the_best#1]

Language issue for Goran? He is literally contradicting himself. He clearly explains that while Sinner is steadier and more consistent, Alcaraz experiences higher peaks and lower valleys. Therefore, "at their best" he is claiming Alcaraz is better.

Makes no sense.

I agree. If Alcaraz has the higher peak then it goes against what Goran claiming. I agree with him that Sinner is more consistent but that doesn’t make him the best player at their very best.

This also only applies on hard courts because on clay and grass Alcaraz is more consistent and has higher peak as it stands.

 

[Hitman]

Yeah. I will never write that dude off. It’s possible that I am underestimating Alcaraz and Sinner. But Djoker will make some more deep runs.

Djokovic vs Sinneraz in the last few seasons is the perfect way to end his career.

 

[Winner Sinner]

Language issue for Goran? He is literally contradicting himself. He clearly explains that while Sinner is steadier and more consistent, Alcaraz experiences higher peaks and lower valleys. Therefore, "at their best" he is claiming Alcaraz is better.

Makes no sense.

In reality Ivanisevic did not say this.
He said that Alcaraz goes from playing incredible shots to committing many gratuitous errors, while Sinner is more constant during a match, ergo, the highest peak is not reached with only incredible plays but with consistency, whether this is limited to a single match or to the single tournament.
And I think that's what Ivanisevic meant.

 

[weakera]

In reality Ivanisevic did not say this.
He said that Alcaraz goes from playing incredible shots to committing many gratuitous errors, while Sinner is more constant during a match, ergo, the highest peak is not reached with only incredible plays but with consistency, whether this is limited to a single match or to the single tournament.
And I think that's what Ivanisevic meant.

If that is what he meant, he is evidently wrong, given Alcaraz and Sinner's recent h2h history.

 

[Winner Sinner]

If that is what he meant, he is evidently wrong, given Alcaraz and Sinner's recent h2h history.

Obviously everything is questionable, even what Ivanisevic says.
Evidently, in expressing this opinion, he thinks that Sinner has not managed to play at his best in the 3 matches this year.
He said that if both express themselves at their best, Sinner is superior to Alcaraz.

Then I repeat that I have never liked generalising, given that the type of surface can also determine the matchup.

 

[weakera]

Obviously everything is questionable, even what Ivanisevic says.
Evidently, in expressing this opinion, he thinks that Sinner has not managed to play at his best in the 3 matches this year.
He said that if both express themselves at their best, Sinner is superior to Alcaraz.

Then I repeat that I have never liked generalising, given that the type of surface can also determine the matchup.

That's fair. Goran is generally just a blowhard, either way.

 

[Rovesciarete]

Obviously everything is questionable, even what Ivanisevic says.
Evidently, in expressing this opinion, he thinks that Sinner has not managed to play at his best in the 3 matches this year.
He said that if both express themselves at their best, Sinner is superior to Alcaraz.

Then I repeat that I have never liked generalising, given that the type of surface can also determine the matchup.

I think it is quite clear that he is feeling that during the length of a general tennis match Sinner is better. Why? Even if Alcaraz might hit the (more) amazing shots he will commit more easy errors while Sinner has an aggregated higher quality thanks to the consistency of his quality.

Keep in mind that Alcaraz is more aggressive than Sinner, a bit like Fed against Djoko and should thus look more spectacular but also more wasteful.

Overall points, win percentage, Elo and a lot of other stats support his case this year. It might change or better over long careers it should from time to time.

Tennis Majors: Sinner or Alcaraz?​

Goran Ivanisevic: They’re different players, but when they are both at their best, I feel that Sinner is better. He is more consistent throughout the match, whether Alcaraz can go from hitting amazing shots to some easy errors. This year, Carlos had a few losses I couldn’t explain… If we move Novak out of the equation, they will dominate, they are way above anyone else on the Tour.

 

[Sport]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

Quite a risky prediction, but I must admit that you have courage, so you deserve praise. The most specific a prediction is, the easier it becomes to be refuted by experience. Rather than critizicing your pprediction in case it turns out to be wrong (which is more likely than not, considering how specific it is), we should praise your courage.

 

[travlerajm]

That's fair. Goran is generally just a blowhard, either way.

But he had a good serve, so reporters publish what he says.

 

[Rovesciarete]

But he had a good serve, so reporters publish what he says.

and only little success as a player and less as a coach, so what does he know...

 

[chjtennis]

I thought Alcaraz's best was better than Sinner's, but now it seems Sinner actually can be better than Alcaraz at their respective best. However, Raz still has more room for improvements as he is the younger one of the two, so I think it can change again in the near future.

 

[tennis24x7]

I am just happy he is coaching Rybakina

 

[tennis_pro]

In what universe is that true? Sinner has literally nothing on Alcaraz apart from the ranking which is due to consistency. If Alcaraz figures this out it's lights out.

 

[Rovesciarete]

… Sinner has literally nothing on Alcaraz….

You mean apart from the serve and backhand and according to Tennis Insights the return and forehand as well? Not much, I agree.

 

[RG GOD]

At Carlos's age the carrot had 0 GS and 0 M1000.
Nothing more to say.

 

[Mustard]

Alcaraz's weakness is that he often lacks patience. He seems to want to play great all the time, or play with high intensity to change things, or he gets discouraged.

Alcaraz could do with some of Nadal's point by point focus, but wouldn't want to lose the instinctive intensity that has won him 2 Wimbledon titles already.

 

[tennis_pro]

You mean apart from the serve and backhand and according to Tennis Insights the return and forehand as well? Not much, I agree.

Imagine being 23 years old, having a better serve, forehand, backhand and return and still trailing by 2 Slams (including winning Slams on one surface as opposed to all 3) to a 21-year old guy not to mention going 0-3 in the h2h in a season against him (including 0-2 on your favorite surface) where you pretty much win all the matches against everyone else. Imagine that. To anyone else something's not adding up.

There is literally nothing Sinner has on Alcaraz at the moment other than the fact that he's more consistent which is expected. If he hired someone like Gilbert who would add more mashed potatoes to Alcaraz's game (to help him get to the QF/SF more easily) the guy would clean up.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Ivanisevic speaks; "Sinner or Alcaraz? at their best Sinner is stronger"

That's obvious.

 

[Sport]

Sinner supposedly possessing a superior peak than Alcaraz is anything but obvious.

Correct.

 

[Rovesciarete]

Imagine being 23 years old, having a better serve, forehand, backhand and return and still trailing by 2 Slams (including winning Slams on one surface as opposed to all 3) to a 21-year old guy not to mention going 0-3 in the h2h in a season against him (including 0-2 on your favorite surface) where you pretty much win all the matches against everyone else. Imagine that. To anyone else something's not adding up.

It is intriguing how results, process and elements get often scrambled here on this forum which have resulted in some pretty poor predictions. When I looked at Sinner and Alcaraz a couple of years ago I noted that their ability to win return points and second serve was outstanding which indicated three things: natural (return) talent, superior rally skill and a good first strike tennis despite a weak first serve.*

Last year I would have put the Alcaraz forehand ahead, just like in the years before but now I'm torn while the stats favor Sinner's, ditto for the return. Now this might change again but I find it amusing how easily great improvement gets neglected. It is very rare to develop a stroke so much but Jannik has done so and is continuing to do so.

The greatest advantage of Carlitos relative to Jannik has ever been his physical edge which however has been narrowing too, as fits the relative arcs of a precocious wonderkid and a rare very-late-grower. Frankly I don't think that Charlie will ever match the consistent weight of shot from both wings of Jan, while I'm not so sure that Carlos can conserve his clear athletic advantage. Nadal's muscles versus Djokovic's endurance.

Other than that I can't imagine Jannik to have ever better hands than Carlitos, nor the Murcian having regularly a stronger serve than the markedly taller mountain man.

*FAA and Shapo were hyped by some who evidently were blinded by glorious flashes and could not bother to look at the most basic of stats. Shelton can of course win a slam but unless he makes a huge jump in return and rally performance he looks unlikely to become a regular top5 player. Draper looks better despite having had far more physical struggles.

 

[THUNDERVOLLEY]

Correct.

^ Incorrect.

Ivanisevic is correct: Sinner is the stronger than Alcaraz.

 

[Winners or Errors]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

Djoker’s 2025 will be lucky to equal Fed’s 2019 level. 2017… no.

 

[Gazelle]

The outcome will be positive for Sinner regardless of Wada.

 

[Winner Sinner]

It is intriguing how results, process and elements get often scrambled here on this forum which have resulted in some pretty poor predictions. When I looked at Sinner and Alcaraz a couple of years ago I noted that their ability to win return points and second serve was outstanding which indicated three things: natural (return) talent, superior rally skill and a good first strike tennis despite a weak first serve.*

Last year I would have put the Alcaraz forehand ahead, just like in the years before but now I'm torn while the stats favor Sinner's, ditto for the return. Now this might change again but I find it amusing how easily great improvement gets neglected. It is very rare to develop a stroke so much but Jannik has done so and is continuing to do so.

The greatest advantage of Carlitos relative to Jannik has ever been his physical edge which however has been narrowing too, as fits the relative arcs of a precocious wonderkid and a rare very-late-grower. Frankly I don't think that Charlie will ever match the consistent weight of shot from both wings of Jan, while I'm not so sure that Carlos can conserve his clear athletic advantage. Nadal's muscles versus Djokovic's endurance.

Other than that I can't imagine Jannik to have ever better hands than Carlitos, nor the Murcian having regularly a stronger serve than the markedly taller mountain man.

*FAA and Shapo were hyped by some who evidently were blinded by glorious flashes and could not bother to look at the most basic of stats. Shelton can of course win a slam but unless he makes a huge jump in return and rally performance he looks unlikely to become a regular top5 player. Draper looks better despite having had far more physical struggles.

Everything you say is always very interesting.

I think that the thing that makes the Sinneraz challenges unique is this total uncertainty that reigns, often going beyond predictions.

2019
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

2021
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

2022
Ranking
Alcaraz>Sinner
H2H
Sinner>Alcaraz

2023
Ranking
Alcaraz>Sinner
H2H
Sinner>Alcaraz

2024
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

If we go into even more detail, also considering the match at challenger level in Alicante, so far they have faced each other 11 times and in these 11 times, 8 times the one between the 2 who was ranked worse at that moment won.
Absurd.

 

[Rovesciarete]

Everything you say is always very interesting.

I think that the thing that makes the Sinneraz challenges unique is this total uncertainty that reigns, often going beyond predictions.

2019
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

2021
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

2022
Ranking
Alcaraz>Sinner
H2H
Sinner>Alcaraz

2023
Ranking
Alcaraz>Sinner
H2H
Sinner>Alcaraz

2024
Ranking
Sinner>Alcaraz
H2H
Alcaraz>Sinner

If we go into even more detail, also considering the match at challenger level in Alicante, so far they have faced each other 11 times and in these 11 times, 8 times the one between the 2 who was ranked worse at that moment won.
Absurd.

Interesting to see their dynamic listed this way. I think much will depend on the specific surfaces and the physical condition, we had surprisingly little matches on the faster stuff.

Both sides have been working hard on specific game plans for specific matches, a great watch also tactically. Pretty much everything can happen in a single confrontation.

 

[onehandbh]

I think Djokovic still has another 2-3 year window where he can win a slam. The window extends if either Alcaraz or Sinner get injured.

 

[JoshDragon]

Alcaraz is clearly better than Jannik Sinner.

 

[Bride of Alcaraz]

OMG is this clown still alive...
Can't take him seriously after RG 2020

 

[Rovesciarete]

Interestingly Sinner still thinks that he can become stronger and needs to, but tennis demands a balance between strength, speed and elasticity:

A fine intervista, c’è spazio per una domanda fuori copione, più “da campo” di altre: “Sul campo ti vediamo sempre leggero, agile. Come gestisci la crescita muscolare e l’importanze di elasticità nel tennis?” “È molto importante l’equilibrio, fra muscolatura, velocità ed elasticità… Secondo me ora la forma fisica può ancora migliorare, qualche chilo in più devo metterlo: la stagione è sempre più lunga, a fine anno si consuma sempre. Quanto sto bene fisicamente mi sento leggero, ed è forse la parte principale. Bisogna fare attenzione alla programmazione, e credo che quest’anno sia stato fatto molto bene“. Equilibrio, la parola chiave.

Tante soddisfazioni, quindi, ma anche infiniti spunti da cui partire per migliorare. La stagione è ormai conclusa, ma nel 2025 l’unico obiettivo è fare ancora meglio.

Was overall happy with the scheduling. We will see if he can transform his words into form and how well Alcaraz will do there.

 

[ChrisRF]

"Sinner is stronger"...well, yes, I can agree on that.

However, Alcaraz is craftier.

And in the end it's never clear which attribute will decide a certain match, and that's why this rivalry is interesting.

 

[Aabye5]

Alcaraz can beat anybody when on. But he’s not nearly as consistent as Sinner.

Djoker is aging. But he can still win. I think that Djoker’s 2025 level will be where Federer was in 2017. He will be a season removed from knee surgery, like Federer in 2017. I think that Djoker can play a limited schedule from 2025-27 like Fed did from 2017-19 while being a very dangerous threat at 4-5 slam events. Other times, he will lay an egg, due to age and/or an injury.

2025: Alcaraz, Sinner, Djoker, and a new slam champ(maybe Zverev or Draper) split the titles.

2026: Djoker bags one slam title
2027: Djoker makes a slam final, but doesn’t quite close the deal.
2028: Djoker’s best effort is a slam semi, but loses convincingly in that semi to Sinner.

Djoker retires at the end of the 2028 season with 26 slam titles.

You think Nole's winning two majors next year? He didn't even win one this year.

 

[Berrettini_Fan]

Berrettini is the best when his game is on.

 

[Pheasant]

You think Nole's winning two majors next year? He didn't even win one this year.

Nole bags 1 in 2025 and 1 in 2026

 

[Aabye5]

Nole bags 1 in 2025 and 1 in 2026

Then 2025 isn't really like Fed's 2017.