HOT NEWS: Bold prediction from Ivan Ljubicic ignites debate as he claims Sinner and Alcaraz will rule the sport for years while rivals fade behind ⚡NN

Being a coach through the former Big Three era, Ivan Ljubicic has seen his fair share of top names come and go in the sport so is perhaps best placed to discuss the rise also of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Sinner and Alcaraz continue to dominate the sport so much so that Alexander Zverev is closer to World No.1000 than he is World No.2 and this was even with the Italian not playing nearly half of the season due to a doping ban.

Sinner and Alcaraz can’t be topped – Ljubicic

He returned in Rome and the top duo asserted their dominance at the top finding a route to reaching every single Grand Slam and main final from then on including the year ending ATP Finals.

Ljubicic said speaking this week at the Davis Cup Finals where he was part of an emotional tribute for Nikola Pilic, the tennis father of Novak Djokovic and legendary former player and coach that he sees perhaps someone coming over the rails but that he doesn’t expect change for the next two to three years.

“I believe things will continue in this direction. I think so because Carlos (Alcaraz) and Jannik (Sinner) continue to improve and add things to their games. Their experience in big matches and in tense moments continues to intensify. The rest of the tour is not there, no one is reaching their level, which is why I don’t expect any change in the next two or three years,” said Ljubicic as per Punto de Break.

“Maybe someone will eventually emerge, but I don’t think they will be able to compete with Carlos and Jannik globally over the course of a full year. It’s interesting, because they are two completely different personalities and players. It’s always great to see this contrast and opposition of styles every time they face each other. The numbers say that Carlos is a bit ahead of Jannik, and he is also younger. It’s fascinating and fantastic for tennis to have such a rivalry right after the end of the Big 3 era,”

While the likes of Joao Fonseca and Jack Draper have been touted as the next major winners, no-one has yet got close to Alcaraz and Sinner. Even those seen as the next generation alongside them such as Rune, Shelton and others have failed to get onto their coattails.

Rune is now out injured for a considerable period as it seems like the calendar finally caught up with the Dane and he snapped his achilles earlier this autumn. While Draper has been out since July and Shelton has qualified for the year end Finals and probably had the best year of his career. But not enough to compete with the top two.

Others such as Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev who were part of the last Next Gen run-in have stagnated and are falling off in regards to their ranking and status in the game. While this has ushered in a new era, it is not top stars competing back and forth and is more just two players after we had three for the past 15 years in Djokovic, Nadal and Federer and even Murray at points.

But while there were winners such as Cilic and Del Potro to spoil the party, it was the top four that were spoken about and that net has narrowed to a top two in the event of only Djokovic being left standing at the top of the game as of right now. Even then his days of winning Grand Slams appear to be numbered as Sinner and Alcaraz snatch away a shot at number 25.