Tsonga pulls the brakes on Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz: "That says a lot"

For the first time since the beginning of 2024, the winner of a Slam tournament will be neither Jannik Sinner nor Carlos Alcaraz. The duopoly that has covered the last nine Slams will be broken at Roland Garros, with four victories by the Azzurro and five by the Murcia champion. The dominance of the Spaniard and the Italian has been clear in recent years, and many have already compared them to the Big Three. Among the voices to the contrary, however, is that of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who believes the gap from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic is still stark.

“It’s not unusual for there to be one or two players who dominate, but maybe you have to wait for 20 Grand Slam tournaments before you can compare those three,” he told Tennis365. “It’s hard for me to make comparisons because I’m not on the court. What we can say is that Novak is still there and continues to bother many. The last time Sinner faced Novak in a Grand Slam he lost. That says a lot.”

“We can say that we are lucky to have guys like Alcaraz and Sinner as great ambassadors of our sport, but we are not saying that they are already the best,” Tsonga continued. “They are great players and they will continue to win matches and tournaments. We like this sport because anything can happen and you never know when a problem will arise, like what we saw with Carlos, that maybe can put you out of the game.”

Rolland Garros 2026 thus found itself in uncharted territory for the first time in years, with none of the remaining players in the running holding a Slam title. A situation that reopened the door to outsiders and young talent, with Alexander Zverev still in the hunt for the first Major of his career and rising star Fonseca ready to play a starring role. Italian tennis was also able to take advantage of the void left by Sinner: Matteo Berrettini, Flavio Cobolli, and Matteo Arnaldi reached the quarterfinals, with the Roman dedicating his success precisely to his friend from Alto Adige, convinced that “he will come back stronger.”