Patrick Mouratoglou Rejects John McEnroe’s Claim that Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner Would’ve Defeated Prime Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros

Carlos Alcaraz is chasing his fourth grass-court title at the Queen's, while Sinner has started his Halle Open title defense.

Patrick Mouratoglou Rejects John McEnroe’s Claim that Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner Would’ve Defeated Prime Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros

John McEnroe, Jannik Sinner, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Patrick Mouratoglou (Image via NPR, Vogue, X/We Are Tennis France, ATP Tour)

John McEnroe, just before the French Open final, claimed that the two talented youngsters, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz would have defeated Rafael Nadal at his best at the Roland Garros. Many players consider the toughest task in tennis is to beat Nadal at Roland Garros.

Nadal, the King of Clay, is the winner of 92 singles titles, 63 of them he lifted on clay, which also includes his 14 French Open trophies. So when McEnroe made that remark about Alcaraz and Sinner, it became a talking point of the town.

Sam Querrey, on the Nothing Major podcast, said that if Alcaraz met Nadal 10 times at the French Open, he would have emerged victorious four times. Nadal’s longtime rival, Andy Murray, said it takes time to achieve what Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic have done on the tour.

Now Serena Williams‘ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou has given his take on the topic. He took to Instagram only to bluntly reject McEnroe’s claims.

I don’t think Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner would be favorites against Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final because Nadal has a different game than other players, so compatible with clay. I don’t know how they would adapt. That’s why I think you can’t say that. Nobody can know. And when you think that this guy has won Roland Garros 14 times, it’s hard to say that these guys would beat him.

Check out his post here:

Nadal called time on his illustrious career at the 2024 Davis Cup after Spain’s defeat to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. He had met Sinner thrice on tour, including two times at Roland Garros. The Italian was never successful in beating the 39-year-old.

Alcaraz too met his idol three times and could clinch a win just once. The 22-year-old recently defended his French Open title by overcoming his arch-rival in five hours and 29 minutes, which has now become the longest French Open final in the history of tennis.

After Alcaraz’s win, McEnroe claimed he had never watched a better French Open final than this. It was Alcaraz’s fifth consecutive victory over the Italian and now he leads 8-4 in the head-to-head matchups.

Alexander Bublik gives his verdict on Carlos Alcaraz’s French Open win against Jannik Sinner

The tennis world will not easily forget about the epic French Open final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The match, as expected was a tight affair from the very first game.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (3)
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Univers Tennis)

Sinner somehow took a 2-0 lead and when the watchers of the game thought that match would end quickly, Alcaraz increased his intensity to take the next set before saving three championship points in the following set, winning it to force the decider, which he claimed through the tie-breaker.

While Sinner suffered from a few sleepless nights because of the fourth set, Alcaraz has trouble accepting that he made that incredible turnaround to defend his title. Alexander Bublik has become a fan of these two young rivals and wants them to meet in many Grand Slam finals.

I wish them a lot of success, and every Slam I watch, I hope for them to win, and I hope to see them in the final. I hope this Grand Slam race increases and shortens between them and the greats that we have now. To be present in that era, I think, is really exciting.

Alexander Bublik told Tennis TV

Alcaraz is in London participating at the Queen’s Club Championships to chase his fourth grass-court title. He has gone past Adam Walton and will next meet his compatriot Jaume Munar. Sinner is in Halle, bidding to defend his title, and has knocked out Yannick Hanfmann to schedule a clash with Bublik.

Also read: Jack Draper Explains Why Emma Raducanu Chose Carlos Alcaraz Over Him For Dream Link-Up