Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have now contested the men’s singles finals at the last two tennis Majors; the French Open and the Wimbledon Championships. Subsequently, discussions surrounding the Spaniard and Italian’s rivalry has grown even louder. Recently, two American former ATP stars weighed in as well, as they boldly picked one to edge the other in terms of their Grand Slam title haul.
At the 2025 French Open, Alcaraz and Sinner played each other for the first time in a Major final. The Italian was on the verge of winning, but the Spaniard staged a remarkable fightback and eventually clinched the prestigious clay title. Later, at Wimbledon, it was Sinner who bounced back from a set down before going on to dethrone Alcaraz as the men’s singles champion at SW19.
As things stand, Carlos Alcaraz, 22, has five Major titles, while Jannik Sinner, 23, has four. On a recent episode of the Nothing Major podcast, John Isner asked his co-hosts Jack Sock and Steve Johnson who they think will retire with more Grand Slam titles. Both Sock and Johnson gave Sinner an edge. Former ATP No. 8 Sock said:
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"You got to give Carlos a lot of Frenches (French Open titles) maybe. Sinner had match points even (in the 2025 French Open final), but I think I'm just going to slightly edge with Sinner on this one. I see him in Australia winning... US Open. At Wimbledon, I think he's going to be a tough out for the next ten years or however long he plays."
Later, Johnson echoed Sock's sentiments, with the former ATP No. 21 highlighting Alcaraz's tendency to sometimes lose early on in big tournaments. Citing the Spaniard's early exit from the 2024 US Open, Johnson said:
"I think Sinner ends up with more just based on the body of work the last two years. He doesn't lose to anyone but Carlos. Carlos has these moments and matches where he just loses, like last year, he lost second round at the US Open. Sinner's not doing that. That's not on his cards. If he's going to lose, he's going to lose to Carlos playing better than him, maybe Novak, right? Or somebody like that."
John Isner draws parallels between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's rivalry and the Big Three
On the same episode, former ATP No. 8 John Isner opined that after losing the Wimbledon final, Carlos Alcaraz knows he has some catching up to do if he wants to get to Jannik Sinner's level.
"To me, the great thing about these two is Carlos knows he has to get better now, right? He said he didn't have the best day but he might feel like Sinner might be better than him right now. It's going to motivate him to get that much better," Isner said.
The 16-time ATP Tour-level singles titlist also brought up the era-defining rivalries shared by the 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. According to Isner, Alcaraz and Sinner will push each other the same way going forward that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic did back in their respective primes.
"What Fed, Rafa and Novak did throughout their careers. It's awesome for tennis. So Carlos knows he needs to get better and he's already at this ridiculous level," he added.
The Wimbledon final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner marked the pair's 13th career clash. The Spaniard leads the head-to-head 8-5.
