Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner Told They’re ‘Lacking the Ambition’ to Win Titles

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will end the season with one Grand Slam title each due to injury issues. Alcaraz, after injuring his wrist during the Barcelona Open, skipped both the French Open and Wimbledon.

Sinner was forced to skip the US Open due to his knee injury. He last played in the Wimbledon final, where he defeated Alexander Zverev and defended his title. The injury has eventually forced him to end the 2026 season.

Sinner, the reigning champion at the Vienna Open, Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals, will lose his No. 1 ranking to Zverev. Alcaraz had the mathematical chance to stop Sascha from reaching the top, but his third-round exit in Shanghai means that Zverev has clinched the ATP Year-End No. 1.

Amid all this, former player Victor Hanescu claimed Alcaraz and Sinner are lacking the ambition to win titles as compared to Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. Hanescu believes Sinner and Alcaraz are content with themselves if they play well.

The main difference between the two eras is consistency. From a certain point of view, I understand Jannik and Carlos, because despite their young age, they have already won several important tournaments. Perhaps they don’t have the same goals, perhaps they lack the ambition to win as much as the Big Three… Sinner and Alcaraz are happy to be on the court and play good tennis, and that seems to be enough for them.

Victor Hanescu told Ubitennis

Hanescu also talked about Djokovic’s chances of winning his 25th Grand Slam title. The Serb last won a Major at the 2023 US Open and has since played two finals, at the 2024 Wimbledon and this year’s Australian Open, losing both to Alcaraz.

Another Slam for Nole? He impresses me because he’s still managing to maintain a very high level of tennis. Right now, I think it’s unlikely he’ll ever win a Major again.

Victor Hanescu added

Djokovic was last seen in action in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters, where he suffered a straight-set defeat at the hands of Hubert Hurkacz. It marked his fourth defeat in the opening round of events this season.

Carlos Alcaraz on his defeat to Zizou Bergs

Carlos Alcaraz, right after his defeat to Zizou Bergs in the third round of the Shanghai Masters, struggled to find positives about his campaign. But he believes analyzing his performance with his team later will help him identify what he did well and what went wrong on his way out.

Taking the positive things from today is really difficult. Right now I [haven’t taken] them yet. So, I will try the next few days to think clearly. Right now, all the negative thoughts come to my mind and none of the positives. But I think I will take the good things about having matches. I can re-watch the matches with my coach, with my team. It’s going to be really helpful for the next tournament. But just happy with the way that I’m playing lately, and obviously positive tournaments, the latest ones.

Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference (H/T: ATPTour.com)

Alcaraz complained about the balls throughout his match against the Belgian. In a clip that has now gone viral, the seven-time Grand Slam champion was seen complaining about the way the ball was behaving, yelling, “It can’t be that one ball bounces and the other slips on me.“

He will next play at the Six Kings Slam, which runs from October 21 to 24. The 23-year-old lost to Jannik Sinner in the final in the previous two editions. Sinner will skip this time because of a knee injury.

Also read: Ex-WTA Player Is Losing ‘Sympathy’ for Carlos Alcaraz After Recent Complaints