Sinner and Alcaraz will eye each other's weakness, just as ‘big three' did

Times

a day ago

This is a rivalry that is set to grow, and shift, and expand, and produce twists and turns. The joy of the three-way confrontation between Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic is the way they each used the period between slams to work on new weapons, the better to probe the weaknesses of the others, or to address those that had been exposed. It was an evolutionary dynamic of beauty and power that Darwin would have recognised and, I suspect, been thrilled by.
Jannik Sinner is, to my mind, the better all-round player right now in sport's new and most enticing rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz. He was rather uncertain against Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and could easily have lost had his opponent not endured an agonising injury at two sets up, but against Alcaraz on Sunday he seemed better in most departments, as he had in Paris until he blinked at match points up, and the Spaniard caught fire in the cauldron of that captivating final set.
But Alcaraz and his team will be charting, even now, the period of reinvention leading up to Flushing Meadows in August. Sure, the weights, the running, the interval training, the recuperation, and the wider panoply of activities that are now de rigeur in professional sport. Yet what is more fascinating, and infinitely more consequential, is how and in what fashion he is willing to change things up, to alter small technical aspects on the practice court, to discover new margins necessary to test Sinner in unexpected ways.
This is sport; this is life. We grow and find our best selves in the heat of adversity. Federer remoulded his backhand under pressure from Nadal, who pummelled him mercilessly, sending those high, looping forehands onto the weaker side of the Swiss, discombobulating the one-handed technique. Federer had to dig deep, learn new skills, a somewhat humiliating but necessary precursor for revival. And this process found thrilling success when he defeated Nadal at the Australian Open in 2017, perhaps the most meaningful triumph of his career — just as Djokovic adapted to Nadal, and Nadal to Djokovic, all daring each other to ever greater heights.
This is what set to unfold between Sinner and Alcaraz — and isn't it a wonderful metaphor for life? The technical differences between the two men are vivid. The Italian has more efficient ground shots, less force expended in the delivery, more minimalistic in the follow through, and unquestionably more energy preserved in the longer exchanges. Alcaraz, 22, is more explosive, with more rotation and spin (on the forehand), more creative in shot selection, and more athletic around the court. My sense is that he is also more emotionally immersed in the ebbs and flows of the game (what Norman Vincent Peale called the vicissitudes), something that is both a weakness and a strength, as Roland Garros and Wimbledon amply showed in their different ways.
Where Alcaraz must improve (admittedly an odd thing to write about such a complete player) is in the speed of recovery, particularly after playing the big forehand. One way Djokovic turned the tables on Nadal was to go hard to his stronger wing early in the point, denying him time to wind up, cramping his technique — perhaps most memorably in the 2011 US Open final. Sinner conjured the same trick on Sunday, albeit in a different way. Alcaraz may have looked as if he was struggling in the later sets but this was not because his form dipped (except for a point or two here and there) but because of the calibrated heat coming from his opponent. The Spaniard was so desperate to win points outright on serve that, at key moments, he slightly lost the trajectory of his toss-up — a classic symptom of being outplayed, even if marginally.
The 23-year-old Sinner looks the more bulletproof to me right now, but this is also perhaps the most opportune moment to seek new improvements. His speed around the court is impressive, but he could be more balanced, particularly when moving forward. He could improve his drop shot. He could also become more comfortable with adding spin on his forehand from time to time. This might sound like nitpicking but it is also precisely what he and his team will be working on every day between now and August. Kicking on when at the top of the mountain is the psychological essence of greatness.
Of course, as they earn money, and gain more fame, temptations will come their way. This, too, is part and parcel of self-discovery and failure here, even briefly, can be perilous. For all their different styles and temperaments, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic were masters in the art of self-management, of retaining focus, not just for a week or month, but across the arc of their careers.
One thing I particularly like is that both Alcaraz and Sinner are conspicuously decent young men. The Spaniard's courtesy when I interviewed him at Queen's last year was evident throughout (not least when chatting to my young son). He loves tennis, loves the fans, and — crucially — loves his parents and family too. They will help to keep him grounded. Sinner I've never met but one can't help noticing his mum and dad in the crowd, with him all the way. He has often paid tribute to them, not least his respect for how they look after his elderly grandparents. All to the good.
What's clear is that the stage is set for a thrilling period in men's tennis, a sentence that fills me with joy given the fear many of us felt that the sport would become something of a void following the departure of the Big Three. Djokovic is still there or thereabouts, of course, and others will be hoping to have a say. But I suspect we are in for the era of the Big Two. Whatever happens, it's going to be a hell of a ride.