While Carlos Alcaraz dismisses comparisons with any of the members of the Big Three, he enjoys hearing that his rivalry with Jannik Sinner could be compared to those great rivalries.
Alcaraz has never been hesitant about his ambitions in tennis. Since entering the sport, he has declared that his goal is to become one of the greatest players in history.
As bold as that sounds, he quickly backed it up with impressive performances, such as winning the US Open as a teenager and becoming the youngest world number one ever on the ATP Tour.
With achievements like that, the Spaniard certainly has a chance to become a legendary player, even though much of that will depend on the coming years. It will depend on how he performs and how he handles some of the emerging rivalries.
One of the most notable is his rivalry with Sinner. It’s never been as clear as this year that these two will lead the sport forward. Sinner and Alcaraz won all of the Grand Slams this year, each claiming two major titles.
Both players enjoy this rivalry, which has even been compared to the rivalry Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal shared. While this may seem like a premature and bold comparison, it’s one Alcaraz doesn’t shy away from.
He may not be too receptive to comparisons between himself and the Big Three, but he enjoys hearing this one, as he revealed at the 2024 Laver Cup, which he ended up winning for Team Europe.
"Well, a lot of people talk about it. I like hearing it, I'm not gonna lie. I hope so. I hope that our rivalry is going to be almost what the Big 3 had during their whole careers. I don't know. This is the first year that we shared all the Grand Slams."
"Hopefully gonna keep going like that, sharing great moments, fighting for the great tournaments, the Grand Slams, Masters 1000, Masters. So let's see how it's gonna be in the future the next few years."
Both of them have great chances to achieve a lot in the future. Not only are they truly talented, but they’ve also proven themselves capable of accomplishing the biggest feats in tennis.
They also share a solid relationship off the court, built on mutual respect, which is the foundation of any great rivalry. It's the fairytale scenario for tennis as we get closer to bidding farewell to Novak Djokovic, the last remaining member of the Big Three.
"If we're gonna stay like that at this level, I think we are gonna build great rivalry, relationship off the court, as well. Hopefully, having him here on the tour for a long time because he pushes me to be a better player every day."
"He pushes me to practice 100% just to try to beat him, you know, in the next matches. So it's great, hopefully having that great rivalry that the Big 3 had in their career."
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