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When Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were in their prime, fans feared there would be a lull in men’s tennis once the Big Three era came to an end. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have largely dominated since Federer and Nadal retired, while Djokovic is still lifting titles on the ATP Tour and reaching Major finals. Aged 23, Alcaraz is already writing history. He became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam when he won the Australian Open in January, beating Djokovic, who lauded his “stellar career”.
And the Spaniard has earned himself a huge fan in John McEnroe, who has now declared Alcaraz the “best thing to happen to tennis” in the last decade. Appearing on the Spanish talk show La Revuelta, the seven-time Grand Slam winner said: “He's the best, Carlos is the best. He's my favourite player.
“I'm not saying this just because I'm in Madrid. Carlos Alcaraz is the best thing to happen to tennis in 10 years. Unbelievable. We're lucky to have him. He's my favourite player to watch right now. I'm happy he's playing again because it was not good for tennis that he was out.”
But not everyone agrees. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who spent years battling it out with the Big Three on some of the biggest stages, still believes that Alcaraz has benefitted from not having to face prime Djokovic, Federerer and Nadal, as he had to.
“Honestly, it’s true that he’s developing more. He’s a really complete player. He is really complete. Afterwards, is he stronger than those players today? Mentally, physically, well we don’t really know,” the former world No. 5 said during an appearance on the Univers Tennis podcast last year.
The 2008 Aussie Open finalist won six of his 23 meetings against Djokovic, and had a 4-10 record against Nadal, and a 6-12 record vs Federer. But it’s not just the Big Three who Tsonga thought were stronger. The Frenchman also believes that the calibre of the rest of the top 10 was better in their day.
He added: “What I would have liked to see is Alcaraz win Roland Garros, but by beating [Juan Martin] Del Potro in the third round, [Andy] Murray in the fourth round, Djokovic in the quarter-finals, Federer in the semi-finals and Nadal in the final. That’s what I would have liked to see in real life, because today he dominates head and shoulders.”
While Alcaraz never got to face Del Potro, he had a 1-1 record against Murray. Both of their meetings came in 2021. The Brit won their clash in Indian Wells, when the tournament was postponed to October. Weeks later, Alcaraz got him back in Vienna.
The current world No. 3 also had a 1-2 losing record against Nadal. Their first meeting came in 2021 on Alcaraz’s 18th birthday, and he suffered a bruising 6-1 6-2 defeat. The 22-time Major champion then beat the younger Spaniard in a tight semi-final in Indian Wells in 2022, and Alcaraz defeated Nadal at the 2022 Madrid Open.
And Alcaraz currently has a level 5-5 record against Djokovic, with his latest win coming in this year’s Aussie Open final.
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