Fasten your seatbelts! The ATP Finals field is set. Eight of the best players in men’s tennis are all set to enter the battlefield in Turin in just a few days. The defending champion, Novak Djokovic has already withdrawn from the tournament, and with this withdrawal, the spotlight has now shifted towards two players who have literally dominated the Grand Slam tournaments in 2024! Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Who has been the better of these two? Despite being down in the rankings, Carlos Alcaraz recently has the upper hand compared to Jannik Sinner for American former world number one, Tracy Austin.

If we take a look at their season, Jannik Sinner was the first player to qualify for this year’s ATP Finals on August 10. Sinner has won seven titles this season and two among them were major titles (AO, US Open). With the support of the home crowd, he’s significantly the favorite to lift the title in Turin. It’ll surely take some effort to stop him, over here. Who can stop Sinner? Well, is it Carlos Alcaraz? Carlos leads the H2H against Sinner (6-4). Alcaraz was the third player to qualify for the ATP Finals on September 24. He completed the Surface Slam this year by winning the French Open title and defending the Wimbledon crown. Alcaraz has won a total of four titles in 2024!

Alcaraz and Sinner have been two of the most impressive tennis players this season. During a conversation at the Tennis Channel, a question popped up: Who among the ATP Finals field are the top two players at ‘offense’? In reply to this, renowned tennis journalist, Jon Wertheim named Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Tracy Austin then gave a gentle nod to Wertheim and added, “I’m exactly with you. I think maybe Sinner because he’s number one but to me, it’s Alcaraz. I think of him as kind of a swashbuckler and he’s so aggressive. Unbelievable power from anywhere on the court.”

Austin further added, “Sinner might come up with a shot that keeps him back in play and then use his wheels to get back in the point. But Alcaraz, he could hit a winner from his knees, I mean, the guy is so offensive.” She then also heaped praise on Carlos Alcaraz’s incredible ability of serve and volley. However, this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Tracy Austin sharing her thoughts on the two new superstars of the tennis world!

In 2023, interestingly, while speaking about the ATP player she believes is the future of tennis, Austin literally snubbed Alcaraz to pick Sinner as her choice. She said, “For several years, we’ve been calling Jannik Sinner the future of tennis. Well, 2023 revealed that the future is now.” However, in 2024 perhaps her thoughts changed a bit! Because after the Wimbledon final, she looked quite impressed with Carlos Alcaraz‘s performance against Novak Djokovic and wondered, “Is Carlos starting to separate himself” from the 24-time Grand Slam champion? Both Alcaraz and Sinner have been in the limelight throughout the year. What do other tennis experts think about who’s the best in between these two?

Novak Djokovic’s former coach says Jannik Sinner is a “better” player than Carlos Alcaraz

Goran Ivanisevic worked with Novak Djokovic for almost five years (2019-2024). The Serb lifted nine of his 24 Grand Slam titles under his tutelage. His contributions towards Djokovic’s career are quite enormous and he has often hailed the Serb as the greatest male player in the history of the sport. However, if he’s asked to pick one between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, what would be his choice and why?

“They’re different players. But when they are both at their best, I feel that Sinner is better. He is more consistent throughout the match, whether Alcaraz can go from hitting amazing shots to some easy errors. This year, Carlos had a few losses I couldn’t explain… If we move Novak out of the equation, they will dominate, they are way above anyone else on the Tour,” said Ivanisevic in a recent interview. Apart from Sinner and Alcaraz, there is another player who has impressed a lot in this season. His name is Alexander Zverev!

What does he think about Zverev? In reply to this, Ivanisevic said, the German had faced too many ups and downs. He claimed that Alexander Zverev plays great up until some point, then comes a match where he really needs to put it together, where he needs to perform at his best. That’s when he fails. Even Zverev’s compatriot, Tommy Haas recently snubbed the world number 2, to pick one in between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Who was his pick, though? “Carlos Alcaraz is the player I like to watch the most. Carlos has the most attractive game at the moment. Sometimes he only loses because he has too many options,” Haas said in an interview with Tennis Magazine. Who do you think has had a better season in the Top 3 in men’s tennis?