Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are entering the Roland Garros with big question marks over their fitness, yet the two stars are backed to dominate men’s tennis and are tipped to be among the favorites to clinch their first title at the Paris major.
Alcaraz has been recovering from a forearm issue that forced him to withdraw from the clay court events in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome. In his only appearance during the clay swing, the 21-year-old lost to Andrey Rublev in Madrid.
Sinner on the other hand has been nursing a hip injury and has been forced to miss his home event in Rome, sparking fears that he would miss the Roland Garros. Yet after undergoing treatment at a clinic linked with Italian soccer giants Juventus in recent days, the World #2 made a tentative return to the training and has arrived in Paris ahead of the French Open on Wednesday.
Heading to the Grand Slam after getting a play of just couple of sets is very difficult to get through two weeks of a major event where you have to fight five-set battles – sometimes in back to back matches.
6-time major doubles champion Paul Haarhuis believes that both Sinner and Alcaraz will land on the Parisian clay more concerned about their physical issues than focusing on their ace game to complete a victory at the second major of the calendar.
“The issue for Alcaraz is physical, clearly. He is one of the top contenders if he is fit. What we saw from him in Madrid, that may not be enough physically for him to win a Slam,” said Haarhuis while talking to tennis365.
“The same with Jannik Sinner. I just love his game and I love his personality. The same with Alcaraz.
“These two guys are just great for tennis. The way they play, their attitude on the court, the crowd just loves them and it is fantastic for our sport.
“Two years ago when Alcaraz won the US Open, I didn’t believe what I was seeing. The energy he got from the crowd was amazing and he gave that energy back to them as well.
“When he played (Frances) Tiafoe in the semi-final in New York, there was as many Americans cheering for this Spanish kid as there were cheering for Tiafoe. To do that was an incredible feat.
“As a personality, to create the situation where you are just as popular as the American in his home country, that just showed you what Alcaraz brings on a tennis court.
“He is just so good for tennis. He has the shot-making, some of the skills of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and then he has that smile that brings everyone on his side. We are so lucky as a sport to have Alcaraz.
“Sinner doesn’t have that smile the whole time, but he is so likeable. His game is amazing, his composure is amazing and he is much more cool than a lot of Italian players. He is so wonderful to watch.”
When asked about who between Alcaraz and Sinenr will seal more major titles, Haarhuis struggled to come up with an answer.
“We need to realise that winning Grand Slam titles is tough,” he added. “We had three guys in Federer, Nadal and Djokovic who made it look easy, but before them, one guy winning 20 Grand Slams was impossible.
“Now we look at Alcaraz and Sinner and say can they get to that level, but we have to realize what we have seen over the last few years is not normal and may never happen again.
“Who wins more out of Alcaraz and Sinner at the end may come down to who can stay fit for the longest.”