Sinner's ultimate response - To complete the career grand slam himself at RG 2026

dking68 said:
so it was surprising to see Alcaraz win both - Nadal never ever did this to Federer or Djokovic
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Alcaraz has always been a better player than Nadal on hard courts at that age, so it's not that surprising. They're very different players, despite the similarities we try to paint.

Carl's very first major was the US Open, so no one should be shocked that he had the ability to do this. Whereas Nadal needed years to really figure out hard courts, and it wasn't because he was being blocked by Federer. He was losing to every Tom, Dick and Harry at the AO/USO before finally putting it together in 09.
 
Alcaraz on clay:
RG Grand Slam: 2 titles
Rome M1000: 1 title
Madrid M1000: 2 titles
Barcelona ATP500: 2 titles
Monte Carlo M1000: 1 title

Sinner on clay:
Umag ATP250: 1 title

I know who my money’s on.
 
MeatTornado said:
Carl's very first major was the US Open, so no one should be shocked that he had the ability to do this. Whereas Nadal needed years to really figure out hard courts, and it wasn't because he was being blocked by Federer. He was losing to every Tom, Dick and Harry at the AO/USO before finally putting it together in 09.
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Nadal at that time had certain issues on hardcourt with hard, flat hitters, like Blake, Youzhny and Berdych. Gonzalez and Tsonga played out of their minds at those Australian Opens when they beat Nadal, and I think it was Tsonga's career best match.

I just recently rewatched the 2006 US Open quarter final between Youzhny and Nadal. In the third set, Youzhny was serving at 4-5 and down 0-40, so Nadal had 3 set points for 2-1 sets lead. Youzhny got out of that, with Nadal netting a sitter on one of those set points. The third set went to a tiebreak. Nadal led 5-4 in that tiebreak. From that point, Youzhny won 15 points in a row, i.e. the last 3 points of the tiebreak to win the third set, held to love, broke to love, held to love, to lead 3-0 in the fourth set. Youzhny then went up 5-0, having won 23 out of 26 points. Youzhny won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1. Nadal looked very visibly frustrated and annoyed, which is a bit uncharacteristic for him, usually so good at staying in the present.
 
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MeatTornado said:
Alcaraz has always been a better player than Nadal on hard courts at that age, so it's not that surprising. They're very different players, despite the similarities we try to paint.

Carl's very first major was the US Open, so no one should be shocked that he had the ability to do this. Whereas Nadal needed years to really figure out hard courts, and it wasn't because he was being blocked by Federer. He was losing to every Tom, Dick and Harry at the AO/USO before finally putting it together in 09.
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Don’t kid yourself. Nadal AO 2009 level was nautical miles higher than Alcaraz’s level at AO 2026. He’s just preyed upon a very exhausted geriatric legend
 
dking68 said:
Don’t kid yourself. Nadal AO 2009 level was nautical miles higher than Alcaraz’s level at AO 2026. He’s just preyed upon a very exhausted geriatric legend
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Okay and don't kid yourself, Federer was nautical miles higher than Sinner. You're the one who started the Rafa/Roger - Alcaraz/Sinner comparison.

If you don't think Alcaraz is as good as Nadal, that's fine. But don't be surprised that he stole Sinner's crowns either, because Sinner ain't no Federer.
 
Rattie said:
Alcaraz on clay:
RG Grand Slam: 2 titles
Rome M1000: 1 title
Madrid M1000: 2 titles
Barcelona ATP500: 2 titles
Monte Carlo M1000: 1 title

Sinner on clay:
Umag ATP250: 1 title

I know who my money’s on.
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Alcaraz is certainly superior, but he was also 3 CP down at RG to Sinner.
 
Hitman said:
Sure, but if you want tell me Alcaraz is safe bet when he was that close to losing, I'll agree to disagree. I need to see him dominate Sinner at RG first, he was lucky to escape with his life the last time.
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No he is never a safe bet to me. He just has many more tools in his box, but Sinner is not the clay court player many on here seem to think by getting to and losing one slam final, and not winning anything bar a 250 in his entire career. Not yet anyway.
 
Rattie said:
No he is never a safe bet to me. He just has many more tools in his box, but Sinner is not the clay court player many on here seem to think by getting to and losing one slam final, and not winning anything bar a 250 in his entire career. Not yet anyway.
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See, that I can agree with somewhat.
 
Rattie said:
No he is never a safe bet to me. He just has many more tools in his box, but Sinner is not the clay court player many on here seem to think by getting to and losing one slam final, and not winning anything bar a 250 in his entire career. Not yet anyway.
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To be honest with you - he hasn’t played a full clay court season since 2023. In 2024, he was injured and in 2025 - he was banned. Winning Madrid 2024, and Madrid 2025 was very achieveble for Sinner as well as that awful line call at Monte Carlo 2024. I don’t think his resume is truly reflective of his actual level.
 
Mustard said:
Nadal at that time had certain issues on hardcourt with hard, flat hitters, like Blake, Youzhny and Berdych. Gonzalez and Tsonga played out of their minds at those Australian Opens when they beat Nadal, and I think it was Tsonga's career best match.

I just recently rewatched the 2006 US Open quarter final between Youzhny and Nadal. In the third set, Youzhny was serving at 4-5 and down 0-40, so Nadal had 3 set points for 2-1 sets lead. Youzhny got out of that, with Nadal netting a sitter on one of those set points. The third set went to a tiebreak. Nadal led 5-4 in that tiebreak. From that point, Youzhny won 15 points in a row, i.e. the last 3 points of the tiebreak to win the third set, held to love, broke to love, held to love, to lead 3-0 in the fourth set. Youzhny then went up 5-0, having won 23 out of 26 points. Youzhny won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1. Nadal looked very visibly frustrated and annoyed, which is a bit uncharacteristic for him, usually so good at staying in the present.
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Had he won the third set, he probably would have defeated Youzhny and qualified for the US Open semi-finals for the first time two years earlier than he ultimately achieved.
:)
 
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dking68 said:
To be honest with you - he hasn’t played a full clay court season since 2023. In 2024, he was injured and in 2025 - he was banned. Winning Madrid 2024, and Madrid 2025 was very achieveble for Sinner as well as that awful line call at Monte Carlo 2024. I don’t think his resume is truly reflective of his actual level.
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Perhaps not but the results aren’t there. Until they are, I remain unconvinced by him on clay. Zverev has been close to winning slams but never has. That doesn’t make him a winner, neither do near misses on clay for Sinner. That’s just how I see it. Let’s see what he does this year.
 
Rattie said:
Perhaps not but the results aren’t there. Until they are, I remain unconvinced by him on clay. Zverev has been close to winning slams but never has. That doesn’t make him a winner, neither do near misses on clay for Sinner. That’s just how I see it. Let’s see what he does this year.
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Zverev has never been as close as Sinner has to winning a slam, as Sinner was at RG last year. He’s a champion unlike the German
 
Hitman said:
He needs to ensure he's physically ready, because he knows each time he played him it went the distance and Alcaraz came out on top
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What do you think of Sinner’s 5 set record and what adjustments he needs to make to start winning matches once it reaches the 3hr 50 mark?
 
dking68 said:
What do you think of Sinner’s 5 set record and what adjustments he needs to make to start winning matches once it reaches the 3hr 50 mark?
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For a player of his level, it is not good at all. It needs to improve.

He needs to play more the forecourt for starters, he has a powerful baseline game, but the long rallies also take a bit out of him at times. Keep improving the serve, which is getting better, but he can still improve it.
 
Sinner badly needs this FO title. He’s been
Extremely close twice. Going up 2-1 and 2-0 is very close. Sinner already admitted that he needs to work on his fitness. I believe that Sinner will enter the clay court season as a monster. I’d still favor Alcaraz. But Sinner is far better than his history indicates.
 
Yep really looking forward to this year’s RG. Sinner will be doubly motivated to win his career slam after seeing what Carlitos did in Melbourne. And Carlitos will be determined to three peat at RG. He looked nervous last year in those first two sets, but like he did v Zverev never stopped believing. The higher bounce and five set format will always give him a chance on clay. But hey long way to go, remember what happened to Rafa after he won his first AO and then the biggest shock in Grand slam history at the following RG, giving Roger to finally complete his CGS . This is how tennis works. The unpredictability. It doesn’t follow a script.
 
Pheasant said:
Sinner badly needs this FO title. He’s been
Extremely close twice. Going up 2-1 and 2-0 is very close. Sinner already admitted that he needs to work on his fitness. I believe that Sinner will enter the clay court season as a monster. I’d still favor Alcaraz. But Sinner is far better than his history indicates.
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The first step is understanding your shortcomings, acknowledging them....only then will you truly do something about them.
 
Hitman said:
Last year, I think he was just happy to be there, coming off the three month ban

This year, he has chip on his shoulder and has something very big to prove.
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Well he had championship points last year. He was very close to a 3 Slam season. He may want revenge for that loss. Lol. We'll see how that plays out.
 
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