Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have split the last eight slams evenly between them and have cemented their place at the top. For some, it can be a sign of how good the Spaniard and the Italian are at maintaining consistency. However, a former WTA icon believes the SinCaraz effect has resulted in an unwanted ‘predictability.’ She thinks someone should rise and disrupt their reign. According to her, Taylor Fritz can do it.

On October 7, during an interaction with Mitch Michals for an episode of the Inside-In podcast, Pam Shriver expressed her honest thoughts on Sinner-Alcaraz’s unmatched dominance. When asked about how the men’s tennis is evolving lately, she revealed, “Now it has been even more predictable in the last two years with two guys, obviously Alcaraz and Sinner taking things to next level.” She added, “I kind of think the men’s game needs a three-four or five ranked player to really step up.” While mentioning who can take up this role, she made a pinch gesture to highlight the small gap between Sincaraz and Fritz and added, “Taylor Fritz, which he is this far away.”

Taylor Fritz has generated hype around his name as of late. In 2024, he reached the US Open summit clash before losing to Sinner. This season, he had an impressive run at the Wimbledon, reaching the semis. Last month, he generated headlines at the Laver Cup after besting Alcaraz, for the first time, while playing for Team World against Team Europe.

Concluding her point on the similar note, Shriver said, “We need a little more unpredictability in the men’s game.” Shriver’s explanation comes from the fact that during the Big Three era as well, the predictability situation was there. Thus, it created less excitement due to similar names like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic winning back-to-back titles.

“The men’s side it is pretty fascinating after all those years of predictability where you were just waiting for what members of the Big Three or when (Andy) Murray was in there, the Big Four, to get through, who would win it. You had one or two little breakouts with (Juan Martín) del Potro and (Marin) Cilic winning a couple of US Open. But it was so predictable.”

However, Shriver’s perspective about Fritz being close to Sinner and Alcaraz might not be completely true. If one look at the stats, the Spaniard is at No,1 spot with 11,540 points, while the Italian at No.2 has 10,950 points. Hence, the gap between both of them is just 590 points. Though Taylor Fritz sits at No. 4 mark with 4,995 points, the difference between him and Sinner is 5,955 points. Hence, while Fritz can disrupt the ‘predictability’, he has a huge gap to fill in.

More so, American star Tommy Paul’s coach believes that Alcaraz and Sinner are so good that others simply can’t catch up to their levels.

Top coach believes Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have ‘separated themselves’ from the competition

In a recent appearance on the Inside-In podcast, American ATP talent Tommy Paul’s coach Brad Stine shared his honest views on Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Putting forward his assessment of the World No.1 and No.2, he stated that everybody’s chasing these two because they are ruling. Stine called them the “big two” while explaining why they are unmatched at the moment.

“They’ve really separated themselves from everybody else. Everyone’s chasing those guys. They’re producing a type of tennis that’s obviously been extremely difficult for everybody else to compete against. It’s fun from the standpoint that they’re a little bit different.”

Citing a key factor in both the players’ domination over others, Stine admired their mental toughness. “It’s obviously producing the kind of tennis that beats virtually everybody else on a very, very, very consistent basis. Then when they play each other, they’re doing what those other guys did. They’re pushing themselves to a different level.” 

Aged 22 and 24 respectively, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have got a long way to extend their supremacy over the competition. Moving forward, it will be intriguing to see if any challenger can squeeze in between. Can it be Taylor Fritz, as claimed by Shriver? Only time will tell.