Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have set themselves apart from the rest of the field. Currently ranked at Nos. 1 and 2 in the world, they’ve shared the last eight Grand Slam titles and contested five finals in 2025 alone. The rest of the ATP Tour is vying to come close to them and be the third man in their rivalry, reminiscent of Novak Djokovic crashing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s dominance and going on to surpass them in the history books.

Djokovic himself has already become something of a third party in Alcaraz and Sinner’s rivalry. He reached the semi-finals of all four Majors this year and has earned the third-most ranking points in 2025 behind the two young champions. But aged 38, the Serbian superstar won’t be around forever.

As the tennis world waits to see who will be able to end Alcaraz and Sinner’s reign at the top of the game, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina believes the third man has already arrived. The world No. 15 suffered another tough defeat in a tour-level final last weekend, finishing runner-up at the Swiss Indoors.

And the Spanish ace believes that his conqueror, Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca, will be the ‘Djokovic’ in the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry.

Davidovich Fokina hasn’t fared so well against Alcaraz and Sinner, losing to them in all of their matches – but he did beat Djokovic on one occasion in Monte Carlo, though he has a 1-5 overall record against the 24-time Major winner.

After suffering a 6-3 6-4 defeat in the championship match in Basel, Davidovich Fokina piled the praise on his young opponent. “First of all, I want to congratulate Joao. Man, you played, today, unbelievable tennis,” the 26-year-old said.

“You are the person of this sport, you have a bright future. For sure, you’re going to be the next Nole to beat Carlos and Jannik. Congrats for this tournament and good luck for next week.”

It was another disappointing defeat for Davidovich Fokina, who now has a 0-5 record in ATP Tour finals, with four of those losses coming this year. The world No. 15 was in tears when he blew championship points in the Washington final earlier this year, but he was in better spirits in Basel.

Addressing his team, Davidovich Fokina added: “I want to say thanks to my team. Again, another final. To my wife, for coming today. To all the people that support me through the year, it was a very good year, I cannot complain. Four finals, but it always gives me heartbreak in the finals, but I just want to say thanks.

“It means a lot that you are here supporting me. It’s not easy to handle me, of course, but I think I am improving. I think we will have the opportunity again to be the champion. Today I just gave my all and I cannot say nothing more about it.”

And Davidovich Fokina isn’t the only one who believes Fonseca has a bright future ahead. At the start of the season, the Brazilian qualified for the Australian Open and stunned No. 9 seed Andrey Rublev on his Grand Slam debut.

He followed it up by winning his maiden title in Buenos Aires, and some of the world’s best players took notice. “I think the level he played, it was insane. I was just really happy about him playing and getting his first ATP title. His potential is huge. His level is really, really high,” Alcaraz said days after Fonseca’s first title win.

A few weeks later, Djokovic said: “He’s been the talk of the tour in the last several months. I mean, deservedly so. He’s a very good tennis player. I mean, so young. Just incredible firepower from both ends of the baseline, serve. He’s a very complete player.”