Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz remain the players to beat in men’s tennis, having won each of the last seven Grand Slam titles.
Sinner winning Wimbledon is a positive for tennis, although the continued dominance of him and Alcaraz may not be.
They have played out the last two Grand Slam finals, and occupy the top two spots in the ATP Tour rankings, with Sinner at number one.
Rafael Nadal congratulated Alcaraz and Sinner after their Wimbledon battle, which arrived just over a month after their French Open final clash.
Novak Djokovic is the last player outside of the pair to win a Grand Slam, having triumphed at the US Open in 2023.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesJannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz most likely challenger named
And their next rival has now been discussed by former professionals John Isner and Jack Sock on the Nothing Major Show.
Offering his most likely player to challenge Sinner and Alcaraz, Isner commented: “I am going to say Taylor Fritz. I think he is the one guy who has the best chance. And I think right behind him I think is Ben Shelton.”
Sock added: “I would say over three out of five at these Slams, I just don’t. I would give Fritz an edge over Ben for sure.
“Maybe I would throw an [Alexander] Zverev in with a new potential team around him and potentially some new energy and new motivation out there.
“If he is serving as well as he can and playing well on one of these US Opens, Centre Court or Australia. He would probably be my only guy, probably him and Taylor.”
Steve Johnson suggests ATP players who could stop Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Also sharing his verdict on the situation was another former player, with Steve Johnson referencing the Big Three in his analysis.
That Big Three of Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer once dominated the ATP Tour, and occupy the top three spots for the most men’s Grand Slam titles won.
Djokovic, who just lost his Wimbledon semifinal with Sinner, leads the way with 24, followed by the retired Nadal and Federer with 22 and 20 respectively.
Johnson said: “It is kind of like it was in the Roger, Rafa and Novak era. Who is going to beat both of these guys back-to-back in a tournament?
“Who is going to beat one in the semis and the other in the final? You need somebody to help you out. You need Grigor [Dimitrov] to beat Sinner and then Novak can get through that side if he can and then play his best against Carlos.
1Jannik Sinner2Carlos Alcaraz3Alexander Zverev4Taylor Fritz5Jack Draper6Novak Djokovic7Lorenzo Musetti8Holger Rune9Ben Shelton10Andrey RublevATP Tour top 10
“You need some help and some love. But I really don’t know if there is a guy who can beat both of them back-to-back in the semis and final.
“That’s going to be the biggest hurdle to climb, so you are going to need some help. If you only have to beat one of them I do think a Fritz, a [Jack] Draper, a [Lorenzo] Musetti, a Novak.
“Guys can beat one on any given day, but to beat them on a Friday and Sunday, semis and finals, at a Slam, that is a big ask.”
Like Djokovic, Fritz reached the semis at Wimbledon, but Draper and Musetti fell in the second and first rounds respectively.
There will, of course, be plenty of opportunities for such players to bounce back over the coming years, but whether or not they can reach the levels of the current top two remains to be seen.