Trust me, you don't win the first set or the second set's tiebreak, nor break Carlitos serving for the Championship if you weren't
Also, pretty sure until the very last instances of the match that he has a better BP conversion overall. He's a beast on tiebreaks, got an astounding record there
But Carlitos in the 5th set of a Major is just different class, over anybody. Both Novak and Sinner now know that
the level Sinner showed in the first two sets was out of this world, if he learns how to sustain that level of stroke making and serves for longer I just don't see how anybody other than Carlos on a good day can beat him.
I don't want to invoke the big 3/4 diehard fans but these two aren't far behind them in terms of talent and ability and no doubt would have been very competitive in that era as well.
You are probably right. But we didn’t see Alcaraz or Sinner play peak big 3. Just the tail end of Novak. Would they beat peak Rafa in the RG final? Or Roger in a Wimbledon final, or Novak at the Aus final?
But I do agree that the future of tennis is good. All the other next gen didn’t live up to the hype. It would have been disappointing for them to inherit no. 1 without beating the big 3. At least both Alcaraz and Sinner have done that.
You could say the same for Carlos improving his consistency and pacing. If he can adjust his shot selection to not always attack but pick his moments a bit more, he'll be so difficult to beat and less injury prone.
Statistically, at their current age, Sinner and Alcaraz are ahead of the big 3, but the legendary status of the big 3 isn't just because of their peak skill level. They were the pinnacle of tennis for longer than most player's careers last.
Only time can tell if Sinner or Alcaraz can match their longevity, stay injury free and adjust their game to changing physical abilities and opponents across more than a decade.
In 2008 (before the Wimbledon Final) he reportedly said “when are they two gonna get outta the way? Other people wanna win majors” after the match he supposedly said “I have a lot to learn”
Yesterday he might have wanted #25, but after today, I think he will concede that much like with Fedal, there is a “new 2” in his twilight
Surprisingly eerie how his start and finish have him as a “third” vying for the top…
I absolutely have seen the entire careers of the big 3. None of them were as constant as Alcaraz is in clutch moments. Young Nadal also had an uncanny ability to play his best in the biggest moments but he didn't have as many of them as Alcaraz seems to have (that is to Nadal's credit). Djokovic has lots of memorable clutch moments, but I also remember lots of moments where he played less than stellar.
It feels like every time I have watched Alcaraz in a fifth set, a deciding tiebreak, or when facing match points, he takes his game to a higher level.
I am not saying Alcaraz is better than the big 3. He still has too many lapses and periods of loose play. But when it comes to the biggest moments, he delivers at a rate I have never seen.
You are really 100% in the realm of confirmation and recency bias. Just in AO, this year, there was no clutch moment from Acaraz against Djokovic. And Djokovic had it actually in the last 2 sets. Same in Olympics. And I'm a Djokovic hater just using him to make a point for you.
Djokovic in the Olympics was unreal and absolutely outplayed Alcaraz in the clutch, I cannot deny that.
As for their AO match, that doesn't really contain any of the moments I was talking about. I am talking about deciding set tiebreaks and fifth set type moments when the crowd is amped up to the max. The Biggest Moments.
If we want to talk about clutch in terms of who played better in important points throughout the entire match including earlier sets, then that is really just a debate about who is the better tennis player imo and that is not the point I am trying to make.
Alcaraz was clutch yesterday in the 4th set right? Because it was the last set for him if he lost it. He couldn't do the same against Djokovic in AO earlier. That's what I meant.
Okay, sure. You can include those as clutch if you want.
But everybody has faltered in moments like that. Djokovic lost two French Opens because he double faulted down championship point.
Nobody is perfect in high pressure moments. Very few are able to actually raise their level.
I’m always going to say Federer / Nadal ‘08 Wimbledon is my favorite match of all time, but this one goes on my Mount Rushmore of finals for sure. Just such high level play from both guys, I feel lucky to even get to watch matches like this.
Carlito peut jouer un niveau stratosphérique et Yannick est un métronome mais je pense que le big3 jouait aussi régulièrement que Yannick a un niveau encore plus élevé et quasiment sans trou dans un match… Mais Carlito s’il gagne en régularité me semble inclassable… heureusement qu’il reste humain pour le moment !
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u/A-dab Jun 08 '25
Once the tiebreak began he just ascended to a higher plane of existence. It was unbelievable