Chris Clarey: I can see a lot of Federer in Alcaraz. Sinner taps into Djokovic's approach

Time of India

19 hours ago

Veteran journalist
Chris Clarey
has spent over three decades covering
tennis
for publications like The New York Times. In his latest book, 'The Warrior', he draws on more than 20 years of conversations with
Rafael Nadal
and those closest to him to explore the making of the Spaniard's kingdom of clay. In this conversation with
Prajwal Hegde
, Clarey reflects on this new era of tennis, and how it carries forward the legacy of the Big Three
Is there anything new about Nadal that you learnt while writing 'The Warrior'?
Nadal, with his routines, is sort of ponderous — every point is a separate battle. Take your time, arrange your water bottles, adjust your shorts, and play the point. But if you go back and look at Nadal when he was younger, he wasn't like that at all. It was very, very high speed. They worried he was going to burn out, so Toni Nadal, his uncle and coach, started giving him routines to slow him down between points. That kind of created a monster. Nadal's natural approach is much more fast-paced. I found it fascinating to learn that what we're seeing now is, in a way, manufactured.
Everyone's talking about the Big 2 era after the Big 3. What traits of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic do you see in Alcaraz and Sinner?
Sinner and Alcaraz have the ability that Federer, Djokovic and Nadal brought to the fore — of turning defence into offence from just about anywhere on the court. Before that, it could happen with a Pete Sampras or other players from earlier generations, but only from certain parts of the court. Sinner and Alcaraz have the skill set, speed and power to do it from anywhere.
With Alcaraz, I certainly see a lot of Federer in him— in the sense that he uses the whole canvas. His style of play, the way he moves and produces shots and creates magic with the public is very similar to Federer. He also feeds on the crowd's reaction. Federer did too, though he didn't show it as openly. Federer loved that sense of communion with the crowd. But Alcaraz's love for the 'champagne shot' could be a bit of a downfall. He knows it gets a reaction, he loves it, and he feeds on it. The Nadal quality I see in Alcaraz is in his training sessions with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero — quality over quantity. Another similarity is the ability to change pace.
With Sinner, Djokovic is the most logical comparison, mainly because of style of play. Sinner has had a lot of contact with Djokovic over the years through the Riccardo Piatti connection — Piatti worked with Djokovic early in his career. Sinner was able to tap into Djokovic's approach. Tactically, he stays tight at the baseline, maintains great rhythm, takes big rips, and has that two-handed backhand in the corner where he can extend without retreating. It takes away so much time from his opponent and probably makes the court feel very, very small on the other side.
In the first Roland Garros final since Nadal retired, we saw Alcaraz and Sinner put everything out there, but there were no toilet or injury breaks, and both players even overruled crucial calls…
With Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, there was plenty of tension at times behind the scenes. Djokovic wasn't as buddy-buddy with those guys as they were with each other. But on court, there was generally a lot of good sportsmanship and respect. It was important, especially for Federer. He talked about it a lot — once he got over his temper issues and became an ambassador for the game, it was important for him to show it. I feel like Sinner and Alcaraz are coming out of that tradition. I'm not sure they would have had that same approach if they hadn't come out of that legacy. As I watched the French Open, I also thought there's a good lesson in the way they just get on with it. They didn't get bogged down in bathroom breaks or injury timeouts. Tennis needs that more than ever.
In terms of openness and willingness to share stories, how different is the Sinner-Alcaraz era from the previous one?
Athletes with their teams are taking control of their connection with the public. Alcaraz is 22 and already, there's a Netflix documentary out about him. I'm not sure that it painted quite the portrait he expected, but it is something he had control over with his team. I'm sure it's going to be the same with Sinner. I don't see somebody independent like me being able to have that consistent access over 20 years to athletes of the level of Nadal, Federer or Djokovic. That will make it hard to write these books the way that you'd like them to be written because you don't have that consistent sense of who they are. You don't see them in their unguarded moments, and you don't get very much time with them.
Nadal spoke about their rivalry benefiting from numbers — they were three of them and, for some part four, with Andy Murray. Do you see anyone coming along to make it a trio or quartet for Sinner and Alcaraz?
The guys I think have a chance to join them are players like Ben Shelton — still very raw but a phenomenal athlete with a lot of drive and charisma. He has played very little on grass or clay compared to these guys, so you have to give him some time. Jack Draper is an outside candidate, as is Holger Rune. Jakub Mensik's forehand is a little suspect, but his serve and backhand are good. If Arthur Fils can get over the back problems, he's got a lot of explosive potential. And I hate to mention Joao Fonseca because I really don't like hyping people up, but he is top 50 at age 18.