Brad Gilbert has branded Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz the “gold standard” of tennis at present, despite Novak Djokovic’s continued presence.
Novak Djokovic was left out of Brad Gilbert’s praises (Image: Getty)
Novak Djokovic has been left in the shade by former coach Brad Gilbert, who recently made a six-word claim about the gold standard of tennis. By Djokovic’s own high standards, the 24-time Grand Slam winner has had a bit of a sub par year in the sport, failing to win any of the four major tournaments.
He was beaten in the semi-finals of the Austraian Open by Jannik Sinner, handed Casper Ruud a walkover in the quarter-finals of the French Open, pipped to the post in the Wimbledon final by Carlos Alcaraz, and sent packing from the US Open by Alexei Popyrin in the third-round.
However, the 37-year-old Serbian can take pride from his Golden Slam win over Alcaraz in the finals of the Paris Olympics this summer, adding a gold medal to his bronze from Beijing in 2008. With a number of stars hot on the heels of the tennis icon, legendary coach Gilbert – who has partnered with the likes of Andy Murray and Coco Gauff in the past – acknowledged that he may not be able to compete with the new generation.
Taking to social media, Gilbert wrote: “After 20 years of amazing matches from the big 3 didn’t think it was possible this soon to have another amazing rivalry,” adding how Alcaraz and Sinner “is the gold standard in tennis”. He added: “Here’s to the next 10 years of these 2 with tons of great matches, hopefully Wada doesn’t mess it up.”
Djokovic notably enjoyed a lenghty rivallry with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal over the course of his tennis career, with all three players in the mix to be dubbed the greatest of all time. On paper, Djokovic has achieved the most with regards to Grand Slam titles over the years, his 24 ahead of Nadal on 22 and Federer on 20.
And while the trio have since pretty much called it quits on their friendly rivalry, with Federer retiring in 2022 and Nadal absent from most of the majors over the last two years, Gilbert believes that Sinner vs Alcaraz provides fans of the sport with a brand-new battle of the best to buy into.
Alcaraz, 21, has had a whirlwind couple of years in the sport, winning the US Open in 2022, achieving his maiden Wimbledon win the next year, and doubling down with wins at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024. He currently sits second in the ATP’s official rankings, with hopes of taking the top spot from Sinner in the near future.
He faces Tomas Machac in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters today – a tournament in which Djokovic and Sinner are also still a part of, facing Jakub Mensik and Daniil Medvedev respectively. Sinner is proving to be Alcaraz’s main competition as tennis moves into a new era of rivalry.
The youngster clinched his first major in the Australian Open back in January to kick his year off in the best possible way, before winning the US Open last month. The future undoubtedly looks incredibly bright for both men, who are still very early in their respective careers.