“The reason why I believe (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz are so far ahead of the rest in the men’s game is that they are so complete. They are playing our game in a different style than two or three years ago,” said former world no.1 Mats Wilander just ahead of the 2025 US Open. Wilander’s observation was his response when asked if the Carlos Alcaraz – Jannik Sinner era of tennis is boring. The duopoly of the Spaniard and the Italian flies high in every final of almost every Grand Slam. However, not all tennis pundits are sold on the prospect of crediting Alcaraz and Sinner as a revolution. The sport’s stalwart Roger Federer has a different take on this dominance. In fact, he believes the Sinner-Alcaraz tango is a bit too cloying.

As the Laver Cup is taking over San Francisco, its founder and 20-time slam king Federer was seen interacting a lot with the media. While speaking to former American pro Andy Roddick, he shared his opinion on the measured shift in tennis from back in the day to its current predisposition. The game today, he explained, feels more like a baseline slugfest—just heavy hitting from both ends. “It’s full on, baby,” he said with a chuckle. “The forehand goes big, the backhand goes big.” Reminiscing, he mentioned how things used to be different. “Back in the day, every player had a little hole in their game somewhere. Not me,” he clarified quickly, “our backhands were massive. We’d slice it against each other, you know. There was a bit of feel to it.”

Then they circled back to the present. “But it’s true, though. That’s what I see now.” Ofcourse, this was a tongue-in-cheek style response to the Alcaraz-Sinner saga. His point in brief – the joy of tennis lies in its imperfections. And Alcaraz and Sinner, they almost play too perfectly, which makes tennis look effortless. Federer added, “I feel like there’s great returning I don’t know. I feel like they return so easily nowadays. I don’t know if it’s conditions that are a bit slower or they just better off it, you know.” If you’re wondering what was so different in Federer’s era, “Making returns was hard.” He was so used to winging it, “slice, you know, just get it in, just float it in there and figure it out.”

But there’s one aspect that the former World No.1 blames for the monotony. According to him, Alcaraz and Sinner’s hard-hitting performances mainly stem from court conditions. He believes they are too fast most of the time, no matter where they play. Hence, he thinks, “We need to have not only fast courts but what we would want to see is Alcaraz or Sinner figure it out on lightning fast and then have the same match on super slow and see how that matches up.” The man’s literally giving away the recipe for the perfect serving of tennis.

In another interaction with Tennis Channel, however, he confessed that the impact of SinCaraz has been unprecedented. “I think we all knew that they were going to be good. That they were, maybe, going to be great, most likely. But we didn’t expect I think this kind of dominance right out of the gate. It is really impressive I must admit. It’s amazing for the game, I think that they play back-to-back-to-back finals against each other. I mean this is the biggest stage in our sport that we have. So, I mean, they have made a name for themselves. And now obviously, the next question: ‘Who’s gonna be the next guy?'”

Expressing his thoughts, he continued, “We know that Novak (Djokovic) is doing what he is doing. I mean he is on a legendary career already. But you know who’s gonna be the next guy who wants to join that elite group? And it’s going to be hard and it’s going to take some time and it’s a question also, how long can they keep doing this? Because it’s not easy, I mean I have been there, it’s hard and they are making it look very easy. So, really-really impressive.”

Coming back to his chat with Roddick, Federer wasn’t too keen on talking shop all day long. Yes, he’s been in retirement for a while now. But the Swiss Maestro is now eyeing a comeback – with an unexpected twist.

Roger Federer expected to swing the racket again with a longtime rival

Although he hung up his racket back in 2022, avid fans still miss Roger Federer. And guess what? Their wish to see him back on the court might actually come true. How? Well, his TEAM8 CEO and Laver Cup chairman, Tony Godsick, had an interesting detail to share ahead of the event this week. He sparked speculation by saying, “I’ve been pressuring him (Federer) a little bit, saying, ‘Come on, people want to see you play again. You can play a couple of senior things,’” reported Tennis Channel on September 20. Godsick has been working with the former World No. 1 for the past two decades.

Now here comes the best part. What Godsick mentioned next was enough to cause hysteria among tennis lovers online. “We’ve been talking with Rafa a little bit about putting together a tour together. So, Roger just wanted to make sure that his knee was fine. He didn’t want to be totally broken after his career, so he gave it a little bit of time.” It appears the Swiss Maestro has been trying to stay fit and get back in shape lately—and now we probably know the reason. “He’s not there yet but he’s in the gym a lot. I think Rafa’s interested. I don’t want to speak for Rafa, but it would be great to see these guys out there.”

The possibility of a Federer–Nadal reunion would surely fill the stands in no time. For those who may not remember, they were last seen playing together during the 2022 Laver Cup for Team Europe. It was also Federer’s farewell tournament before retirement.

Interestingly, Federer himself has admitted that he likes the idea of teaming up with Nadal again. “I love Rafa! I played four hours of tennis the other day here in San Francisco and in LA for another hour and a half,” he told CNBC in an interview. “I know that Rafa is also totally open to maybe playing some tennis. It sounds terrible, seniors tennis, to us, but maybe we can create a tour—like a ‘Fedal Tour’ or something like that. It would be cool.”

So, would you be eager for a “Fedal Tour” if it becomes a reality moving forward? Let us know in the comments below.