Tennis fans need to move past the Federer and Nadal glory days and really embrace the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry

The two decades between 2003 and 2023 were a golden era for men’s tennis.

The “Big Three” — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — won 66 of the 82 Grand Slam singles. Their unprecedented dominance and rivalries made for intense, captivating matches.

Now, with Federer and Nadal retired and 38-year-old Djokovic struggling to hold back time, some have questioned the future of male tennis.

In his new book, “Changeover – A Young Rivalry and A New Era of Men’s Tennis” (Gallery Books), Giri Nathan argues that it shouldn’t be. The future of the game is safe in the hands of two young players – Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, 22, and Italy’s Jannik Sinner, 23.

“Together they have made the sport anew,” he writes, “stepping into superstardom right as the greatest generation slipped out of it.”

Nathan pinpoints the epic 2022 US Open quarter-final between the two, where Alcaraz triumphed in five sets en route to his first major title, as the moment tennis entered a new phase.

“It was a vision from some sharp and fearsome new era that our eyes had not yet adjusted to,” he writes.

The match was also notable for the marked contrast between the approaches of the two players.

“[Alcaraz] was mercurial; [Sinner was] methodical,” adds Nathan. “One was a master of compartmentalization; the other seemed to feel everything all at once.”

That difference may be down to their backgrounds, the author asserts.

Born in El Parmar, Spain in 2003, Alcaraz first picked up a racket at age four and displayed a clear natural talent. His parents couldn’t afford the cost of taking him on the junior circuit, so he had to rely on sponsorship from a local confectionary store.

By the age of 12 he was already signed by sports agency IMG, securing lucrative clothing and equipment sponsorship deals and by the time he made his debut on the Challenger Tour, at 15, his reputation preceded him.

He won his first ever match too, reeling off six games in the third set to beat “a gangly ginger by the name of Jannik Sinner.”

Sinner grew up in the Dolomites mountain range in northern Italy with parents working at a ski lodge. He first played tennis at age 7, but gave it up soon after to focus on skiing.

In his tween years, he was one of the best junior skiers in Italy, but then his slender physique started to work against him and he returned to tennis.

“Tennis was a passion for Carlos and a religion for Jannik,” Nathan writes.

Going into this year’s US Open, Sinner is ranked No. 1 and Alcaras is No. 2, but the Spaniard is the clear fan favorite — all Latin passion and mile-wide smiles. 

Sinner, meanwhile, is something of a villain, largely because he tested positive for a banned substance in the spring of 2024. He served a three-month ban, but many in the game thought it was insufficient, especially compared to punishments given to less high-profile players.

The fact that they are two very different characters makes their rivalry especially compelling, as does their distinct styles of play.

Sinner is coolly consistent, hitting powerful, aggressive shots from the baseline.

Alcaraz thrills with high highs and unbelievable winning shots that are tempered by low lows.

“Like all the richest rivalries before them, each prodigy possessed some virtue absent in the other one; somehow each one appeared to be the antidote to the other’s style of play,” Nathan writes. “Sinner needs to find more comfort in the unscripted moments of feel and daring that are Alcaraz’s native habitat … [and] Alcaraz has to smooth out his cycles of emotional burnout so he doesn’t feel like a ‘slave’ to the sport.”

Nathan’s belief that the rivalry is destined to be one for the ages is borne out by the Grand Slam matches they have played since finishing his book. 

Not only have the pair won the last seven Grand Slam events between them but they have also produced two epic finals in the last two.

When the pair met in the French Open final in June, Alcaraz won a five-set thriller after a grueling five hours and twenty-nine minutes of play, the longest ever final in the event’s history.

Six weeks later, the two met again in the men’s final at Wimbledon where Sinner avenged his defeat in Paris in four enthralling sets on Centre Court. 

You can expect more of the same at the US Open, where the men’s singles matches start Monday

“The future will surely be defined by these two, interlocked in a joyful and absorbing struggle,” Nathan writes. “It is a smothering counterexample to anyone fussing about what tennis could even be after the old gods faded away. 

“New gods take their place.”