Top tennis commentator Barry Cowan has picked Novak Djokovic as the leading contender to break the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, with youngsters Jakub Mensik, Jack Draper, and Joao Fonseca as upcoming options.
Alcaraz and Sinner have shared all of the last seven Grand Slams, leading the rest of the rankings by over 3500, in the case of the former, and 6000, in the latter’s case.
Indeed, the pair have also contested the two most recent Grand Slam finals.
At the French Open, Alcaraz prevailed in the longest-ever Parisian final 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2), saving three championship points in the third set.
Just a few weeks later, the roles were reversed by Sinner lifting a maiden Wimbledon trophy via a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over the world No 2.
“Right now, I don’t see anyone knocking off Djokovic,” analysed Cowan, during an exclusive interview with Tennishead.
“Obviously, he’s obviously not been able to win the last seven majors, because that’s been dominated by Sinner and Alcaraz, but, you know, I’m not ruling Djokovic out, because when you’ve won it 24 times, and he’s made semi-finals at all three majors this year, so, you know, he’s not far off, but, you know, as things stand at the moment, for someone to win a major, the way the rankings are, you might have to get through three of them.
“Now, one of them might lose, so you’ve got to get through two of them, and how gruelling that is, physically and mentally.
“So I think that the tier below, and obviously we know who they are, I still feel that they’ve got to improve their level.”
Indeed, Djokovic – now 38-years-old – has reached the semi-finals all three of 2025’s Grand Slams, beating the Spaniard at the Australian Open.
Sinner continued his dominance over the Serb by prevailing in straight-sets at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
If the tennis legend gets his hands on another title, it would give him a 25th Grand Slam singles trophy – more than any man or woman.
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“Now, the older you get, the harder it is to be able to do, because you’ve almost reached your ceiling,” added the Brit.
“The exciting part for the younger players is that we don’t know what the ceiling could be.
“And Draper is definitely in that. Mensik is definitely in that. Fonseca is definitely in that. There, for me, is an absolute star for the future, but you know, that’s really further down the line.
“In terms of the majors, and that’s where, obviously, the Masters come into play, massively. And the ATP 500, and we’ve got two big tournaments coming up.
“I mean, you know, Toronto is a massive tournament for that next group, because you haven’t got Djokovic, you haven’t got Alcaraz, you haven’t got Sinner. Obviously, Draper’s not available; he’s pulled out through injury.
“So an opportunity knocks for that next tier to get some momentum and win some matches, going into Cincinnati and then obviously the final major of the year.”
Djokovic, Sinner, and Alcaraz will return to the tour at the Cincinnati Masters (August 7 – 18), whilst Draper will next play at the US Open (August 24 – September 7), as he continues to recover from arm discomfort.