Jannik Sinner has already bagged three Grand Slam titles in the short span of his career with his recent coming in the 2025 Australian Open, where he clinched his second title in a row in Melbourne after dismissing Alexander Zverev in straight sets. But hold on; even though his talent is unquestionable, some still say there is “boredom” in his game. Really? Boring? This is a label that’s been slapped on other greats before him too. Remember the Big 3—Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic- whose dominance was occasionally dismissed as repetitive. Fast forward to today, and Sinner’s name crops up in the same conversation. Is tennis really losing its edge? Former world No. 12 Paolo Bertolucci, now a consultant, has joined in the conversation.

Speaking about the growing discourse of Sinner being boring, as per We Love Tennis, Bertolucci said, “Those who say that Sinner is boring, I answer that it always happens with phenomena. After all, there were the three, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, who played a little and who were always three or four in the semi-finals, so that’s how it was before. There was probably more competition, because there was Ferrer, Tsonga, Berdych, which I frankly don’t see now.”

Jannik Sinner arrived in Melbourne as the defending champion—he left as a two-time Australian Open winner without dropping a single service game in the final! The Italian powered past Nicolás Jarry, Tristan Schoolkate, Marcos Giron, Holger Rune, and Alex de Minaur before dismissing Ben Shelton in the semifinals. But his most ruthless display came in the championship match against Alexander Zverev. Sinner held all 16 of his service games, never facing a break point—a feat last achieved by Rafael Nadal in the 2017 US Open final!

The Italian domination led former ATP player Sam Querrey to be particularly blunt on Nothing Major, the podcast he co-hosts with John Isner and Jack Sock.

“Honestly, the entire men’s field was a bit weak this year. There was no outstanding match in my opinion! The Alcaraz-Djokovic match was decent, but I feel like there was nothing more,” Querrey said. “When we talk about this tournament in six months and wonder which match we will remember, the truth is that we won’t remember any of them. Sinner stood out above the rest, which is a bit disappointing from the fans’ perspective.”

For Sinner, the calls for him being boring aren’t the first hand after the Australian Open 2025. The Italian was called out for being too monotonous by former ATP player Nielsen in an interview with SpilXperten last year.

“Honestly, I also find Jannik Sinner a bit boring to watch because everything is so monotonous,” Nielsen told SpilXperten. “He’s almost too good a guy.” He did not stop there. “Among active players, I would probably point to Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, and Jannik Sinner. Zverev doesn’t seem like he enjoys being there. I respect that he plays efficiently, but it’s not watchable.”

Jannik Sinner isn’t the first top player to be labeled “boring.” Novak Djokovic, despite his 24 Grand Slam titles and relentless dominance, faced a similar thing. Former world No. 38 Steve Darcis once admitted he admires Djokovic’s level but found his matches too predictable. “I like it when you don’t know what will happen in the next moment. If you look at Djokovic, you almost always predict in advance where and how he will play,” Darcis said in an interview in 2021. (Translated by Google Translate)

Coming back to the 23-year-old, while many have recognized Jannik Sinner as the world’s best player, not everyone is convinced. Dominance on paper doesn’t always translate to universal agreement—just ask Patrick Mouratoglou, who believes another name still reigns supreme.

Patrick Mouratoglou thinks this player is better than Jannik Sinner

Patrick Mouratoglou, however, sees things differently—while Jannik Sinner sits firmly atop the ATP rankings, he is not, in fact, the best player in the world in his eyes! Carlos Alcaraz, however, is seen in a similar light, considering their almost self-evident head-to-head match record and a very different approach when it comes to playing styles.

True, he is way ahead on the ATP rankings, leading world No. 2 Alexander Zverev and Alcaraz but is this enough to win the argument? Not yet. The Spaniard, with four Grand Slam titles, edged Sinner in their career meetings across majors. Heaven knows how in the last five majors they went back and forth over the titles. Could this be the second great rivalry in tennis?

One couldn’t miss that Sinner was indeed in a dangerous form in Melbourne: he lost only two sets en route to a straight-sets demolition of Zverev in the final. Alcaraz conquered Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024 but fell to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals in Australia.

Hence, Mouratoglou took to Instagram and wrote, “Everyone sees Jannik Sinner as the best player in the world right now, but I don’t agree.” In the accompanying video, he further wrote. “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.”

There is a case in point: the Spaniard boasts a 6-4 head-to-head record over Sinner.