Rafael Nadal explains the difference between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz: ‘They’re different players from what I was’ | Tennis News
Twenty two-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has explained what differentiates Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, saying that the former was a lot more methodical, while the latter did not have a clear playing pattern, which made him unpredictable.
The 39-year-old admitted that he did not identify himself in either player, adding that both Sinner and Alcaraz were a lot different from him.
“I don’t identify with either. They’re different players from what I was. I think Carlos is more random. He makes more errors, hits more spectacular shots, sometimes doesn’t such a defined game pattern, which makes him unpredictable and fun for spectators. Jannik is more methodical, focused, with a more defined pattern, and he keeps adding things little little. That’s why he’s so solid and loses very few matches,” Nadal told AS in an interview.
The 14-time French Open champion added that he found it amusing to see that Alcaraz had such a fine year despite having such a “scattered” game.
“Sometimes Carlos seems more scattered, but when you look at the results, he’s had an incredibly consent and solid year in all the big tournaments. That’s why it makes me laugh when I hear that he’s scattered. The results say the opposite. That’s my view,” he said.
Nadal retired from professional tennis in November last year after playing the Davis Cup against the Netherlands in Malaga. He competed in the singles and the doubles events at the Paris Olympics, bowing out in the second round against Novak Djokovic in the former and exiting the latter with Alcaraz in the quarter-final stage.
On the opening day of the 2025 French Open, Roland Garros organisers unveiled a footprint carved into clay in Court Philippe-Chatrier. He won his 22nd and final Grand Slam in Paris in 2022 and is the only player apart from Djokovic to have won each of the four Grand Slams atleast twice.
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