Tennis needs a great rivalry and the professional era has not disappointed in producing decades of scintillating showdowns between the proverbial baseliner and the volleyer - from John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg to Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal to new contenders, Carlos Alcaraz versus Jannik Sinner, seesawing between the 1st and 2nd rankings.
Yet with only 11 Major singles titles between them as opposed to 42 from the previous generation, Alcaraz and Sinner have an accumulation of more joint ranking points than any top two players since 2009. Some achievement for fledgling heavyweights.
While Alcaraz has capitulated pole position in losing the Monte Carlo final, as he feared he might, with his nemesis winning three Masters 1000 events (Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo) on the trot, it begs the question, what ultimately separates these two gladiators, at the moment?
The answer is their respective serving ability.
Sinner’s first serve has become a lethal weapon and for Alcaraz it has become a weakness. To the extent, both former No 1s, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, watching this final, shook their heads in disbelief, as the Spanish defending champion lost a first set tiebreak with an unforgivable double fault.
Not the only one on a big point, contributing to his defeat.
Sinner has made no secret he has followed Novak Djokovic’s lead in perfecting his serve to guarantee those all important free points, critical in the best-of-five-set marathon matches.
It seemed Alcaraz, after his Wimbledon loss to the Italian, took immediate action to improve his consistency to good effect. He won the US Open.
However, it was only at the beginning of the 2026 season, post coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, his team started making technical adjustments to remodel his serve on the Djokovic variation, using the shorter abbreviated lag and a more compact motion to hike first serve percentages and add more power.
Initially this tinkering appeared to work, earning the Spaniard his first Australian Open and Doha Masters titles; but since the transition to clay courts the wheels have come off again costing Alcaraz his top ranking.
While his arch rival and new world No 1, is resting up basking in glory and only re-entering the fray in Madrid, the World No 2 patriotically embarked at Barcelona with a much watered-down field of top players, before being forced to withdraw with a wrist injury after an opening win.
Therefore, the only top seed still standing is Lorenzo Musetti. Alex De Minaur has already been eliminated by unseeded Hamad Medjedovic in straights sets, the Serbian’s second top 10 scalp. Who can forget his felling Stefanos Tsitsipas on practically one leg — the other rendering him unable to run — at the 2025 Doha Masters.
And the weapon unleashed to take the sting out of “Demon’s“ tail was, according to Medjedovic, “my serve, I’ve worked very hard on this and its now a powerful weapon” — catapulting the young Serb into his first Masters 500 Quarter.
Perhaps Alcaraz should be taking notes on Djokovic’s protégée, rather than on Djokovic.
In terms of rivalry there is a much stronger lineup in Munich, where three-time local champion Alexander Zverev is top seed, alongside Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Alexander Bublik.
Brazilian Next Gen star Joao Fonseca has repeated his Monte Carlo feat beating Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and reaching the Munich quarters.
There are two new Next Gen Spanish players making equal waves in Madrid, Rafa Jodar and Martin Landaluce, whom Alcaraz has proudly identified as “having a great future and I think they will be great rivals.” Spoken like a seasoned veteran, at the ripe old age of 22.
Speaking of “veterans”, 27=year-old Tsitsipas continues to receive round one marching orders. Hungarian No1 Fabian Marozsan sunk him 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in a match delayed by bad light which the Greek should have won.
The Hungarian salvaged a match point to turn it around, leaving Tsitsipas in a bad mood — though not as bad a mood as Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry in Barcelona, when thrashed 6-3 7-6 by Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who, battling cramp, made an unprecedented underarm serve on his match point.
Etcheverry, taken by surprise, was not fast enough to muster a return.
All in all, one cannot underestimate the importance of first serve percentages and if Alcaraz intends to unseat Sinner at Roland Garros, then fellow Spaniards, Rafa Nadal and former coach Ferrero must rally to restore the world No 2’s service action, which possibly should not have been tampered with in the first place.
Heaven forbid Alcaraz walks into another final, wins the toss and elects to receive — a sure sign to your opponent that you have zero confidence in your own serve. - By Deborah Curtis-Setchell
Reuters
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