John McEnroe: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz cannot dominate like ‘Big Three’ did

Jannik Sinner’s US Open victory heralds “the official changing of the guard” in men’s tennis, according to 1980s giant John McEnroe.

Sunday night’s showpiece found Sinner defeating Taylor Fritz, the reliable American, in straight sets to complete the hard-court double this year. He had already opened his grand-slam account in Melbourne in January.

With Carlos Alcaraz lifting trophies on the other two surfaces in Paris and London, this has been the first season since 2002 when the “Big Three” men – Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – have not landed a major.

Here was the statistic that led McEnroe to declare a new era of men’s tennis. The question now is whether Alcaraz and Sinner can close the door on the other contenders.

At the peak of the Big Three’s reign, four years went past between Stan Wawrinka’s success at the 2016 US Open and Dominic Thiem’s in the pandemic year of 2020.

Going back further, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer mopped up 63 of 76 titles between Federer’s first Wimbledon triumph in 2003 and his last appearance at that tournament 19 years later.

Such a lengthy reign looks unrepeatable, no matter how gifted Sinner and Alcaraz might be.

“These guys can’t possibly – can they? – dominate like these last three guys have,” said McEnroe. “[Alexander] Zverev is currently No.2 in the world after this tournament. Those guys who have been bypassed, you would think it would increase the hunger to finally get over the hump and win one.”

It’s unusual for two men to split the four majors equally in a single season. Nadal and Federer did it in 2017, the year of Federer’s sensational return from knee trouble, before Djokovic and Nadal also went Dutch in 2019.

Going back further, the last season to deliver such a youthful crop of champions – in the sense that nobody over the age of 23 lifted a major – was 1993, when the winners were Jim Courier, Sergi Bruguera and Pete Sampras.

Sinner and Alcaraz, like their predecessors, have a neat way of dividing the tennis virtues between them. Alcaraz is the more emotional player, relying on feel and creativity, and finding it difficult to focus when his muse eludes him. Sinner is the more consistent and relentless performer, whether from point to point or week to week.

Yet even the ultra-focused Sinner admits this has been a challenging season, not only on account of the hip trouble that flared up during the spring, but also because of the shadow cast by his two failed doping tests in March.

He said in the wake of Sunday’s triumph: “It’s difficult to describe everything, because me and my team and the people who are close to me, they know what I’ve been through in the last months.

“Obviously it was very difficult for me to enjoy in certain moments. Also how I behaved or how I walked on the court in certain tournaments before, it was not the same as I used to be, so whoever knows me better, they know that something was wrong.

“But during this tournament, slowly I restarted to feel a little bit more how I am as a person. Doesn’t really matter how or what the result was. So this tournament, for sure, helped me a little.”

Sinner’s case was an unusual one, in that his lawyers reacted with such speed that he didn’t even serve a temporary suspension. Within a few days, the independent tribunal convened by the International Tennis Integrity Agency had reached a conclusion of “no fault or negligence”, accepting Sinner’s claim that he was accidentally contaminated during a massage.

But when the news finally emerged into the public domain, less than a week before the US Open, a number of players and ex-players – including Federer – questioned whether Sinner had received preferential treatment.

On Sunday evening, Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill spoke about his charge’s experiences on the ESPN tennis broadcast. “Today has been amazing considering what he has been through,” said Cahill. “It has been a journey, the last three weeks, for sure.

“It has been like carrying 20kgs on his shoulders for the past four months. And then 40kgs on his shoulder for the last three weeks. So for him to be able to do that and be able to perform … He was a set and a break down in his first match to Mackenzie McDonald. He was able to turn that around and day by day, build his confidence and feel a little bit lighter.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.