Serena Williams' ex-coach says Jannik Sinner is not 'way above' Carlos Alcaraz despite latest Australian Open triumph

Tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has opined that Jannik Sinner is not the sole best player in the world despite his Australian Open heroics. The Frenchman, who has previously coached Serena Williams and is currently working with Naomi Osaka, said Carlos Alcaraz is on par with Sinner, even if his high-risk game makes him look less dominant than the Italian.

Sinner has produced some scintillating tennis since 2023. He had a phenomenal season in 2024 where he won two Grand Slams, the ATP Finals, and reached the World No. 1 ranking. His impressive run of form continued at the start of 2025 as he successfully defended his title at the Australian Open by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the final. The 23-year-old has now won three successive Majors on hard courts.

But despite these achievements, Patrick Mouratoglou is not of the opinion that Jannik Sinner is head and shoulders above the rest of the field. The Frenchman stated that both Sinner and Alcaraz were above everyone else at the moment.

"Jannik is not above everyone. I don't think he is above Carlos. I think when Carlos is at his best, there is a real match and I'm not sure who's gonna win. Nobody can say who's gonna win. And all their matches have been extremely close, extremely uncertain, and Carlos won some big ones against him. So I wouldn't say that he is above. I think those two players, him and Carlos, are above everyone else," Mouratoglou said.

Mouratoglou added that Carlos Alcaraz's high-risk game leads to more unforced errors which makes it seem like he is not as dominant as Jannik Sinner - who plays at a high pace without missing much. He also highlighted the fact that there have been some big matches where the Spaniard has beaten the Italian.

"The difference is they have a different type of game. Carlos is making many more unforced errors than him. He's playing with much more risk. The quality of Sinner is that he plays at a crazy high pace, without missing, and that's really his asset. The asset of Carlos is that he has this incredible power in the racket, and also the ability to change rhythm. He goes at a certain pace, and suddenly - Bam! - he accelerates the pace like crazy. Jannik is simply everything at the same pace, which is extremely high, so it's different," Mouratoglou said.

"So the fact that Carlos is making more errors maybe makes him look less dominant in the matches against the other players, but he has so much margin, that's crazy. And again, when he faces Jannik, nobody can say who's going to win. And, I mean, look at the achievements. Both won two Grand Slams last year and Carlos, for the moment, has won more Grand Slams than Jannik and is actually younger. So, I don't think that we can say that Jannik is way above Carlos," he added.

Carlos Alcaraz currently leads the head-to-head vs Jannik Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner after the China Open final (Image Source: Getty)

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have locked horns ten times so far, with the Spaniard currently leading the head-to-head 6-4. The Spaniard was just 18 when he won the two's first meeting, which came in the second round of the 2021 Paris Masters. Sinner then won their next two encounters, in the fourth round of Wimbledon 2022 and the final of the Croatia Open.

Alcaraz then leveled their head-to-head by winning a thrilling quarterfinal at US Open 2022 before registering a straight-set win over the Italian in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters in 2023. Sinner won the next couple of meetings between the two that year, in the final four of the Miami Open and the China Open.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner faced one another thrice in 2024, with the Spaniard winning all of their matches. He beat the Italian in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters and the French Open before edging him out in a thrilling final at the China Open.

While Carlos Alcaraz leads Jannik Sinner in their head-to-head, the latter is considerably ahead of the Spaniard in the ATP rankings. He is currently at the top with 11,830 points while Alcaraz is 4820 points behind him at third position.