Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are set to renew their Grand Slam rivalry at the Australian Open and former world No 1 Justine Henin has given Tennis365 her verdict on which young will end their career with the most major titles.
Defending Australian Open champion Sinner is the favourite to retain his crown in Melbourne, with Alcaraz eyeing up the remarkable achievement of landing a career Grand Slam at the age of 21 if he wins the only major title missing from his collection.
The battle between Sinner and Alcaraz is set to dominate the tennis narrative over the next decade and responding to a question from Tennis365, Eurosport analyst Henin suggested the Italian has a narrow edge on his rival for one big reason.
“If I think with my instinct I would go with Jannik Sinner,” said Henin, as she backed the Italian to win the Grand Slam count with Alcaraz.
“The level they play is already so exceptional and we will count on them over the next few years. They are very special.
“They are both so young and they have achieved so much already, especially Alcaraz. He is still so young.
“We have had some questions about him, how he plays, and we had the same questions with (Rafael) Nadal. Would he get injuries and how would he deal with tough moments?
“We don’t know if these two will have the capacity to play for as long as (Roger) Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic. We don’t know if they can continue to play so long as win so much.
“These three players were writing an amazing history and it was exceptional. We can never say it will never happen again, but it is going to be new challenges and we don’t know if they will have the capacity to manage their schedule.”
Henin then joined many prominent voices in tennis by suggesting Alcaraz would be wise to steer clear of playing exhibition matches in the off-season, as he needs to ensure his body is protected for the tournaments that matter.
“We see Alcaraz playing exhibitions, but he needs to think about himself and his body,” she said.
“Even if he wants to give a lot to the fans, to play for a long time and to keep winning, he also has to think about himself and adapt.”
