Karen Khachanov placed youngsters Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz above the rest of the ATP Tour after the previous years of Big Four dominance.
For much of the past two decades, tennis was dominated by the so-called Big Four. They were four amazing tennis players who were clearly better than the rest.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray were nearly better than the rest of the Tour, while the first three were generally ahead of Murray as well.
That's not the case anymore as Roger Federer retired and Andy Murray suffered a major injury which completely derailed his career. Rafael Nadal is still kicking around, and Novak Djokovic is obviously still among the best.
When it comes to the rest of the Tour, many would agree that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz look ahead of everybody else. Noted veteran Karen Khchanov certainly sees it that way, as he told L'Equipe in a recent interview.
"Before, the Big Four, with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, was above the rest. There was a big difference in terms of level. Now, I have the feeling that…Alcaraz and Sinner are ahead, yes, but not that much. That’s my feeling. It’s going to get more and more interesting to see who’s going to dominate. Even though, OK, Novak is still playing."
Currently, Sinner and Alcaraz do seem ahead of the rest, even if the difference is not that big. It's certainly not the same gap that existed with the Big Four. As we've seen in recent months, Sinner and Alcaraz are both beatable, even though the Italian has looked less so recently.
Busy months are coming up for all of them, though, so there will be plenty of chances to see what the actual hierarchy of the ATP Tour is. There are going to be many opportunities, with many ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and the Olympic Games as well.
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