What Sam Querrey, Brad Gilbert Find So Shocking About Dominance of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner combined have won the last nine major tournaments. To say these two young tennis stars have dominated the men’s field the past two-plus years is an understatement at this point. They’re achieving greatness tennis fans thought we wouldn’t see for quite some time after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal retired.

At this rate, it seems virtually impossible for another men’s tennis star to weave themselves in the mix because the gap Alcaraz and Sinner created is so massive. And, this gap is noticeable to the whole tennis community at this point.

When speaking with Sports Illustrated ahead of Indian Wells, where these two stars are once again the top favorites to win, Tennis Channel analysts Sam Querrey and Brad Gilbert highlighted just how talented Alcaraz and Sinner are in comparison to previous dynasties in men’s tennis. Querrey, a former American player, could see these two winning 15 to 25 majors in row at this point.

“The delta between Alcaraz and Sinner and the field is way bigger than Federer, Nadal, [Novak] Djokovic and the field,” Querrey says. “The gap that these two have created is like the biggest gap we’ve ever seen.”

“I feel like there’s a pretty big distance—it goes one and two, and then it goes three, and then there’s a very big distance between four and 10 to one and two,” Gilbert added. “… In the men’s, there’s a much wider gap. But, they’ve earned it. They’ve earned it by what they’re doing to everyone else.”

When Federer retired in 2022, followed by Nadal in ‘24, the disbanding of the “Big Three” (with Djokovic) appeared to be the end of a generation in men’s tennis. Fans and players alike thought this could be the opportunity for some consistent players who fell short in majors because of these three players to finally get a chance to hoist up a winning trophy on the major stage. Although Djokovic is very much still playing, it was assumed he wouldn’t win every major. Essentially, the tennis world thought there would be some time before the next generation of dominant men’s players arrived.

Well, we thought wrong. Alcaraz won his first major at the 2022 U.S. Open before Federer and Nadal even hung up their rackets. Sinner won his first major at the 2024 Australian Open, and the two have been unstoppable ever since.

Sorry to those players who still couldn’t wiggle their ways in to win a major.

“I think people thought ‘O.K., there’s going to be a four or five-year window here where [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, [Alexander] Zverev and all these guys were going to get a handful of majors. Some of them got one. But, everyone is very shocked that right away two guys at 20 years old just started dominating,” Querrey said.

There’s still hope for a “third” player to join this generation’s “Big Three.” Right now, though, it’s clear that the third person is Djokovic, even at 38 years old. He just played in the Australian Open final after beating Sinner in the semis, but lost to Alcaraz in the final. He won two majors in 2023—the Australian Open and U.S. Open—and is still looking to win that history-making 25th all-time major. You definitely can’t count Djokovic out of the running yet.

“We’re waiting for that third person, but unfortunately that third person is Djokovic at 38 years young,” Gilbert says. “He’s still clearly the third best player, especially at majors at how consistent he’s been.”

Djokovic himself even spoke this week at Indian Wells about his ability to still compete with Alcaraz and Sinner specifically. He has no intentions of slowing down (or retiring, it seems) any day soon.

“I have proven to myself and primarly to others that I can still compete at the highest level and beat these guys,” Djokovic said Wednesday. “So my logic is ‘Why not keep going as long as I have that fire and flare and quality, and also motivation to do that?’”

The tennis world will wait and see who can test Alcaraz and Sinner on the court in the coming years. Who will be the one to stop the unstoppable?

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