Patrick Mouratoglou Explains Why Jannik Sinner Should Be Compared to Rafael Nadal Instead of Novak Djokovic

Jannik Sinner was crowned the Monte-Carlo Masters champion for the first time. On Sunday (April 12), the Italian ace beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz to win his second title on clay.

The victory made him only the second man in the history of the Masters 1000s to complete the Sunshine Double as well as win the Monte-Carlo Masters in the same calendar year. The first player to achieve this was Novak Djokovic in 2015.

Sinner often gets compared to the Serb because of their similar playing style, and in fact, the Italian is often called Djokovic 2.0. But Serena Williams‘ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, is of a different opinion, as he rather thinks Sinner should be compared to Rafael Nadal in terms of mindset.

Everybody compares Jannik with Novak Djokovic, for reasons that are quite obvious, the style of game, but nobody compares him with someone I think he should be compared to in terms of mindset. It’s Rafael Nadal.

Patrick Mouratoglou said in a video on his Instagram

Sinner is on a 22-match winning streak in Masters 1000s, with the streak starting at the 2025 Paris Masters, where he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime. After losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinal and to Jakub Mensik in the Qatar Open quarterfinal, the South Tyrol native went past Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells final and Jiri Lehecka in the Miami Open final to become the eighth man to complete the Sunshine Double.

They have something in common that is incredible and so rare. It’s their ability to play every single shot from the 1st of January to the 31st of December with 100% commitment, focus, intensity. So rare.

Patrick Mouratoglou added

Sinner is back at the top of the rankings table, but is also on the verge of losing it to Alcaraz again. He has a lead of just 110 points. The Madrid Open will be crucial for both in terms of rankings because neither of them has any points to defend.

Carlos Alcaraz shares whether he plans to play the full clay season after defeat to Jannik Sinner

Last year, Carlos Alcaraz wanted to play the full clay-court season, but due to an injury, he had to skip the Madrid Open. His coach, Samuel Lopez, in an interview, said Alcaraz will be playing five tournaments on the surface this year, and they are: Monte-Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and the French Open.

Alcaraz, at the press conference after his defeat to Sinner in Monte Carlo, confirmed that he still plans to play the remaining events on the surface.

The main goal is to play the full clay season calendar. So let’s see how it’s going to be. It was the goal last year as well, and, unfortunately, I couldn’t because of an injury. So we’re touching good and praying that nothing is going to happen to my body. So I’m going to heal my body much better than last year for sure. If I’m going to skip one, I will skip one tournament. If my body stays healthy, I’m going to do whatever it takes to be healthy and take care of my body.

Sinner (14) needs just one more Big Title to tie the tally with Alcaraz (15). The only Masters 1000 events where the World No.1 has yet to taste glory are at the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. Last year, he lost in the Rome and Paris finals to Alcaraz.

Sinner also played his career’s fourth clay-court final in Monaco. The lone title that he won on this surface before the Monte Carlo victory was at the 2022 Croatia Open by beating the World No.2.

Also read: Stan Wawrinka Shares Whether He’ll Have Dream Match with Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros or Pete Sampras at Wimbledon

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