The sport of tennis continues to evolve, as a new generation of stars establish themselves at the top of the ATP Tour.
For years, we saw Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer dominate tennis, picking up a combined 66 Grand Slam titles.
Many questioned whether the sport would find suitable replacements for the ‘big three’, but that question has been answered emphatically over the past 18 months.
World number one and two Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have shared the previous seven Grand Slam titles amongst themselves, outclassing their ATP Tour rivals.
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As Sinner and Alcaraz continue to enjoy success, Andy Roddick has commented on the current state of the men’s game and predicted what may happen in the future.
Andy Roddick thinks we may see a ‘serve bot as fast as Carlos Alcaraz’ in the future
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick’, the 2003 US Open champion shared his thoughts on the sport’s evolution.
“I am still waiting for the serve bot that is as fast as [Carlos] Alcaraz,” said Roddick.
“At some point, and it’s kind of where it’s going, Alcaraz is the outlier to the trend of everyone being taller and still being able to move.
“He is not a hugely tall person, but he is like the fastest person we have ever seen and the most athletic body we have ever seen.”
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Roddick then commented on the changes he’s seen in men’s tennis over the years.
“It has to be a generational offset for the trend being bigger, stronger, faster, fitter,” he said.
“Whereas if you were 6ft 7 back in the day, it probably meant you could not get in and out of the corners as well, so you were full speed ahead towards the net and just made yourself big and weird looking at the net.
“Are we going to have eventually someone who is as tall as [John] Isner, but can move as well as [Jannik] Sinner? I would have said that it was almost impossible three or four years ago, and now I just don’t know.
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“Maybe we get that person like LeBron [James], who is bigger than Karl Malone, but also runs faster than a point guard in the 90’s.
“Maybe we are waiting for that level of physicality where I can serve like Isner but move like Alcaraz. What I am seeing now is just absurd.”
Only time will tell what tennis will look like in the future, but it will certainly be interesting to see.
Who is the tallest player in the ATP top ten?
Roddick commented on how taller athletes played ‘back in the day’, but who is the tallest player currently ranked in the top ten?
ATP RankNameATP listed height1stJannik Sinner6ft 3 (191 cm)2ndCarlos Alcaraz6ft 0 (183 cm)3rdAlexander Zverev6ft 6 (198 cm)4thTaylor Fritz6ft 5 (196 cm)5thJack Draper6ft 4 (193 cm)6thNovak Djokovic6ft 2 (188 cm)7thLorenzo Musetti6ft 1 (185 cm)8thBen Shelton6ft 4 (193 cm)9thHolger Rune6ft 2 (188 cm)10thAndrey Rublev6ft 2 (188 cm)ATP top ten and their heights
Germany’s Alexander Zverev is the tallest player in the top ten, standing at 6ft 6, while Alcaraz is the shortest, at 6ft.
Both players have enjoyed success on the ATP Tour throughout their careers, perhaps indicating that height isn’t as big a factor as many once thought it was.
Carlos Alcaraz’s career achievementsCareer-high rank – 1st (36 weeks)Grand Slam record – 5 titles (2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon, 2024 French Open, 2024 Wimbledon, 2025 French Open)Masters 1000 titles – 7 titles (2022 Miami Open, 2022 Madrid Open, 2023 Indian Wells, 2023 Madrid Open, 2024 Indian Wells, 2025 Monte-Carlo Masters, 2025 Italian Open)ATP Titles – 21 (5 Grand Slams, 7 Masters 1000s, 7 ATP 500s, 2 ATP 250s)Top ten wins – 43 (4 over world number one)Alexander Zverev’s career achievementsCareer-high rank – 2ndGrand Slam record – 3 finals (2020 US Open, 2024 French Open, 2025 Australian Open)Masters 1000 titles – 7 titles (2017 Italian Open, 2017 Canadian Open, 2018 Madrid Open, 2021 Madrid Open, 2021 Cincinnati Open, 2024 Italian Open, 2024 Paris Masters)ATP Titles – 24 (7 Masters 1000s, 1 Olympic gold, 2 ATP Finals, 6 ATP 500s, 8 ATP 250s)Top ten wins – 55 (4 over world number one)
Both players will no doubt have ambitions to add further titles to their resumes before the season reaches its conclusion.
Zverev is scheduled to return to action in Toronto on Monday, July 28, before Alcaraz joins him for the Cincinnati Open on Monday, August 4.