The song that Jannik Sinner chose to accompany his latest post on his Wimbledon win was the same as the one he used for his Instagram story last month on that Roland Garros loss. Yes, “Outro” by M83 is quite a popular track on social media these days, and a lot of people use it randomly for their stories or posts. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that Sinner’s song choice was deliberate. It was likely a reminder – as much to himself as to the rest of the world – of the astonishingly quick speed at which things can change in our universe.
Did even the most delusional of Sinner fans believe he would rebound from the devastating defeat in Paris like this? That he would win the very next Slam, beating the same opponent that seemed to have totally destroyed his soul, and without even needing to play his absolute best? It just wasn’t supposed to be possible.
And yet here we are, three days into Sinner’s stunning run, having been treated to about 657,485 collages of the Italian’s contrasting emotions captioned with Rudyard Kipling’s famous “If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same” line.
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Sinner's look of absolute dejection after failing to convert three match points at Roland Garros has been replaced by a joyous, kid-like smile that seems like it will never fade. There has even been a drunken admission, and an all-time-awkward dance that nobody will get over any time soon. Sinner's catharsis has been so contagious that his coach Darren Cahill has reportedly agreed to stay on another year.
So how did he do it? How did he go from utter despair to uncontained elation in a matter of five weeks? "We tried to accept the loss and then just kept working, and this is for sure one of the reasons why I hold this trophy here," Sinner said in the immediate aftermath of his win on Sunday. "I'm just so grateful that I'm healthy, that I have great people around me, which is the most important part."
That doesn't really tell us a whole lot. Sinner did go into a little more detail during his post-match press conference, saying that it was not easy to have the "self-talk, you know; what if? what if?" and that he had to "keep pushing." But the how of it still defies comprehension. Maybe the Italian's ability to turn things around so spectacularly will always be something that us mortals keep trying - and failing - to explain.
Does that remind you of another player? Or maybe of another time? Until just a couple of years ago, the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had a habit of achieving belief-defying feats that made us scratch our heads and gape in amazement. We never understood how the three of them pulled off the things they did, so after a point we just sat back, tipped our hats, and pored into our thesauruses to find new ways to describe their never-ending accomplishments.
Jannik Sinner's career is nowhere close to reaching Big 3 levels yet, but what he and Carlos Alcaraz have produced over the last couple of years could well be considered a microcosm of the Big 3 era. They have both pushed their bodies to the absolute limit, they have both displayed the kind of mental strength that we thought was the preserve of superhumans, and they have both so thoroughly separated themselves from the field that it is tough to imagine anyone else winning a Slam in the near future.
Sinner and Alcaraz have always had the game that is a prerequisite for anyone hoping to be a successor to the Big 3. In fact, they have always had more.
When Sinner and Alcaraz met in the season-defining 2022 US Open quarterfinal, I thought they showed us the highest level of shot-making ever seen in tennis. It was five hours of all-out, no-holds-barred war, with neither player backing off even an inch.
Both Sinner and Alcaraz can relentlessly hurl baseline rockets while barely missing, and they can both also retrieve even the hardest hit shots. This combination of unbelievable offense and immaculate defense was impossible - until Sinner and Alcaraz made it possible.
But whether they had the mentality to sustain that kind of tennis day-in and day-out was a question for which we didn't have an answer back in 2022. What we also didn't know was whether they'd be able to navigate the injuries, the setbacks and the disappointments that are inevitable in every sporting career.
It's safe to say we have answers to both those questions now. Alcaraz has already learnt to rebound from injuries in style, and he has also fully recovered from his own gargantuan heartbreak. Yes, it did take a while for the Spaniard to get back to winning ways after his crushing defeat to Djokovic in last year's Olympics final, but it may not have if he had got to play on his preferred surfaces sooner.
Once he got back to clay and grass, Alcaraz started doing his usual extraordinary things again. In fact, his level of play this year has objectively been higher than it was in 2024; the serve in particular has shown remarkable improvement. And the way he came back from those match points down against Sinner, taking his game to never-seen-before heights, you can only wonder how much better he'll get over the next few years.
Sinner, on his part, has had to deal with more than just that Roland Garros trauma. Questions about his doping incident have followed him pretty much the whole of this year, and they are unlikely to go away any time soon. But whether or not you agree with the length of his suspension - and there are valid arguments on both sides - the fact remains that the Italian was never accused (or proven) to have gained an unfair competitive advantage through the banned substance.
In a different universe, Sinner may have been banned for two years; in still another universe, he may have been let go without any sanction at all. In this universe he was banned for three months, and his return has been dogged by accusing glares and uncomfortable questions - which is exactly what we all expected.
I wouldn't say that blocking out those questions - born as they are out of his own missteps - is something heroic, but it certainly requires nerves of steel. And to do that while also going through the hangover of a loss as painful as the one Sinner suffered in Paris? That's in uncharted territory.
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both have a bit of the Big 3 in them
One of the reasons why the Big 3 era resonated so strongly with the fans was that the three legends had their own unique strengths which, when combined, gave us as complete a package as we could have hoped for.
Federer was the dazzling front-runner who would impose his game on you so quickly that you were left with no time to breathe. Nadal was the disciplined warrior who fought for every point like it was his last, eventually forcing you to surrender. And Djokovic is that ethereal being who somehow produces his best and most machine-like tennis when the pressure is the highest, making you wonder if there's any way to beat him.
It is starting to feel like Sinner and Alcaraz have a bit of these qualities too, albeit in different proportions and combinations. The consistency in Sinner's game reminds you of Djokovic, but the way he efficiently smothers his early-round opponents reminds you of Federer. Alcaraz has a bit of Federer's variety, but also Nadal's foot-speed and retrieving skills. And while Sinner looks to follow Nadal's example of playing each point on its own merit, Alcaraz steps it up and channels his inner Djokovic when his back is against the wall.
It's hardly a surprise that Sinner and Alcaraz have already taken over the sport, and are now threatening to transcend its boundaries too. The Roland Garros final captured the imagination of the world in a way that no tennis match has in years; even people who had zero interest in the sport were talking about it for days on end. The Wimbledon final didn't quite match Paris in quality or energy, but the TV ratings for it were still considerably higher than last year.
The fact that the two players seem to have such a great relationship only adds to the 'Sincaraz' phenomenon. They constantly praise each other to the skies, they high-five each other after matches, they even put up social media posts dedicated to the other. And when either of them loses because of fatigue or just having an off day (both of which applied to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final), they refuse to give any excuses and simply say they were beaten by a better player.
Sinner and Alcaraz are not just generational tennis talents. They are generational athletes who relentlessly pursue the modern values of embracing vulnerability and celebrating positivity.
It almost seems too good to be true that we have got two players to carry forward the torch left by the Big 3 - and maybe even take it higher - in such a short time. And maybe it is too good to be true. Two years is still a fairly small sample size; there's a long way to go before these two can even come close to the Big 3's trophy haul.
Either Sinner or Alcaraz - or both - could get injured, or burnt out, or simply lose their motivation. Other players could spoil the party (not Alexander Zverev, but perhaps Joao Fonseca, Jakub Mensik or Holger Rune), bringing more parity to the tour. Or perhaps another scandal like Sinner's doping one could come along and rock the boat.
But there's no sign of any of those things yet, so the tennis world can be forgiven for living in their bubble. We've lucked out once before after all, with the Big 3. So why not hope for the lucky streak to continue with Sinner and Alcaraz?
