{"id":465665,"date":"2026-02-10T10:58:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/465665\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T10:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:58:30","slug":"right-now-sinner-and-alcaraz-dont-have-weaknesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/465665\/","title":{"rendered":"Right now, Sinner and Alcaraz don\u2019t have weaknesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Courier<\/a> had quite the career at the top of tennis, achieving a lot of success in his pomp despite retiring at an early age. Looking back on his career, he spoke on the Tennis Insider Club<\/a> about his choices after retirement, the difference in fame he had to deal with compared to the current generation while analysing the evolution of tennis with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner prime examples in his explanation.Winning his first Grand Slam<\/p>\n

Courier won four Grand Slams in a decorated career, with the first one a big step in his tennis career. He took down Andre Agassi in five sets to win the 1991 Roland Garros in sublime fashion.<\/p>\n

“I would have been disappointed if I\u2019d lost, but it still would have been a step forward for me,” he admitted. “I was 20 years old \u2014 not even 21 yet. That was 1991. When you look back on it, it was a life-changing moment. If I lose that final, I don\u2019t know where I go from there. Maybe I never win one. You just don\u2019t know. But when you win the final, the question gets answered: Oh, I can do this.”<\/p>\n

His life would never be the same with more fame and responsibilities coming his way. “I woke up the next day and my world was completely upside down. People wanted to talk to me, take pictures with me. There were more responsibilities, but also much more confidence. There was more responsibility from a business standpoint, more opportunity \u2014 but also more confidence. And I had a great team around me who made sure I understood that this was just the beginning. It wasn\u2019t the end of the line. There was still work to do, still room to get better. I was surrounded by people who kept me calm while there was a storm circling around me.”<\/p>\n

While he became an overnight success, he believed that it would have been completely different if he was French. “If I\u2019d been from France, the chaos would have been much more intense. Tennis is far more important culturally in France than it is in the United States,” he explained. “In America, tennis is important to tennis fans. If you\u2019re a Serena or an Andre, eventually you become part of the broader culture \u2014 but I never reached that level. I could still go to restaurants without it being a big deal.”<\/p>\n

Players getting more attention today<\/p>\n

Compared to the current day, he reckoned that the talents of today are more famous thanks to social media. “Absolutely. You look at what players like Iga, Carlos, Coco are dealing with \u2014 there\u2019s so much more attention because there\u2019s so much more media now. More video, more access. That just didn\u2019t exist back then. I could fly under the radar a lot more.”<\/p>\n

It can be an unhealthy obsession for many players despite the benefits which come from it. Courier felt he was lucky to miss this era. “I think the temptation must be enormous,” he acknowledged. “I read that Ben Shelton has been off social media \u2014 or at least Twitter \u2014 for two years now. I understand there\u2019s a business side to it, sponsors, management, audience access, but there\u2019s a lot of unhealthiness too. I feel lucky that my time in the spotlight wasn\u2019t affected by that at all. It was just newspapers the next day \u2014 and I learned not to read them.”<\/p>\n

A lot of this will start for players when they are really young, starting to come into the sport for the first time. This leaves them in a very vulnerable position. “Players are starting at 15 or 16 and getting all of this straight away. When you\u2019re 30, maybe it still hurts, but you\u2019ve developed mental tools. But for young players, receiving all of this online \u2014 it\u2019s really tough.”<\/p>\n

Picking up an addiction to winning and competing<\/p>\n

Despite all the success that he achieved, Courier kept focused at the task at hand. “I didn\u2019t really think of it that way at the time. I wasn\u2019t reflecting much \u2014 I was just trying to move forward. I\u2019m certainly grateful. I was lucky that things fell into place for me. I had a great run and stayed on tour for 13 years. I did way more than I could ever have dreamed of doing.”<\/p>\n

Even as it got harder, the motivation was still there to clinch big wins and titles. “It was great. And then, of course, it got harder. Pete got better, other players came along. It always gets harder as more players arrive,” he said. “But it was always about the chase \u2014 chasing the next title. It\u2019s kind of a drug, if we\u2019re honest. Chasing wins, chasing that adrenaline rush. It\u2019s something special, but also incredibly stressful at the same time.”<\/p>\n

He retired relatively early at the age of 29. “My body was starting to wear down,” he said. “If I knew then what I know now, I would\u2019ve taken more time to rest and recover in the second half of my career. But all I knew was how to push \u2014 push, push, push. That\u2019s how I got good. At some point, I needed to back off. I already knew how to play tennis. What I needed was freshness. I needed to get off the hamster wheel and take a breath.”<\/p>\n

While it was early, he still spent more time on tour than expected while still having his love for the sport. “I retired and was living in Orlando, where Pete Sampras lived too. He asked me to come out and hit with him for a week. And it was super fun \u2014 because I didn\u2019t have the stress of preparing for tournaments. Honestly, I was happier than he was.”<\/p>\n

He continued: “It wasn\u2019t tennis that I was tired of \u2014 it was everything around it. The travel, the grind, the physical toll. I worked my body down, similar to Andy Murray. Thankfully, I didn\u2019t have the hip issues Andy did, but I had the same work ethic. I had 13 years on tour \u2014 three more than I\u2019d planned. I was lucky. It was more than I could\u2019ve dreamed of.”<\/p>\n

Moving into broadcasting<\/p>\n

To this day, the 55-year-old is well recognised for his broadcasting and commentary on live TV at many tennis events, regularly sharing his opinions on the sport. “I wasn\u2019t sure what direction I\u2019d go in, but a television opportunity came very quickly \u2014 working at Wimbledon. I jumped into that, and I\u2019ve been doing it ever since.”<\/p>\n

Coaching is always a viable option for players when they retire but that was not on the cards for Courier. “Not really, except for Davis Cup. I was a Davis Cup captain for eight years, which I loved \u2014 it was a real honour. But full-time coaching means you\u2019re in it 365 days a year, riding in the passenger seat with your player, always on tour. And that\u2019s exactly what I didn\u2019t want anymore.”<\/p>\n

Broadcasting offered a much better balance. “Television offers a great lifestyle balance. I still get to come to tournaments like this one in Cincinnati, I\u2019ll be at the US Open \u2014 but in the fall, I work mostly from home in Los Angeles. It\u2019s the best of both worlds. I stay involved in the sport without grinding myself down on the hamster wheel again \u2014 especially now, as a husband and a father.”<\/p>\n

Evolution in tennis<\/p>\n

The growth and evolution of tennis has been obvious to see with players more powerful. “The tennis has evolved so much, and you\u2019ve been right in the middle of that evolution,” he commented. “Athletes now are bigger and faster. Martina Navratilova was considered big in her time \u2014 one of our great champions \u2014 but she\u2019s much smaller than players today.”<\/p>\n

Both genders have seen this occur. “That\u2019s happened in both men\u2019s and women\u2019s tennis. The athletes are bigger and faster, so the game has gotten faster. The equipment is lighter, the strings generate more spin, and everyone has power now. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re small \u2014 you have power.”<\/p>\n

It has also grown new rivalries and super stars. Players like Alcaraz and Sinner are dominating the sport at the moment, with then sharing resemblance from the prior Big Four who ruled before they did. “Over the last year and a half, they\u2019ve won all the majors. They can play on every surface, they\u2019re young, they move incredibly well,” the American stated.<\/p>\n

\"Jannik<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 ATP Finals<\/p>\n

“I think they would have been competitive with the Big Four. They probably grew up watching them and copying what they did. Jannik looks a lot like Novak in how he moves and plays. Carlos looks like no one \u2014 he\u2019s his own thing. He\u2019s taken the best parts of everyone.”<\/p>\n

He went on to describe how they had no weaknesses<\/a>. “What\u2019s clear is that for most of tennis history, you could be a top player with a weakness. Right now, Sinner and Alcaraz don\u2019t have weaknesses,” he said. “That means technique becomes even more important. When the game is this fast, you have to be offensive everywhere. That\u2019s relatively new.”<\/p>\n

Even the former greats had weak spots. “Rafa eventually had no weaknesses. Roger changed rackets late in his career so his backhand became more of a weapon \u2014 especially against Rafa. In my generation, even Sampras had a side you could play to safely \u2014 his backhand. That doesn\u2019t exist anymore. There\u2019s nowhere you feel safe.”<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Courier had quite the career at the top of tennis, achieving a lot of success in his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465666,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[6733,49,48,190077,82,593],"class_list":["post-465665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-atp","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-jim-courier","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}