The champion par excellence, at least in the era of professionalism, is the one who manages to combine talent with a healthy and deep-rooted work ethic. And the most powerful image, when it comes to 360° commitment to tennis and one’s margins for improvement, is undoubtedly that of Jannik Sinner.
Thanks to this characteristic, he has captured the hearts of millions of fans (so much so that he has been voted fan favorite in the last two years), but he has also earned the respect of famous colleagues. The last on the list is Evgeny Kafelnikov, a player born in 1974 who won two Slams and reached number 1 in the world in May 1999.
To the fateful question of who will win more between Sinner and Alcaraz at the end of his career, the Russian – in an interview with CLAY – “voted” for the Italian today No. 2 ATP: “I lean towards Sinner: it seems to me that Alcaraz is more talented, but Sinner is more motivated and more dedicated. And if I have to choose between talent and work ethic, I choose work ethic”.
What also strikes him about Sinner is the impact he is having on the tennis movement in Italy: “He is a positive personality for tennis, which in Italy is experiencing an ‘explosion’ even compared to football. The rivalry with Alcaraz is fantastic, and I hope it will last for many years”.
As for the Spaniard, however, Kafelnikov is uncertain about the consequences that the breakup with Juan Carlos Ferrero could produce: “Because they broke off a relationship like this, after so many successes. I don’t like what I heard about what happened and Alcaraz’s family: he’s grown up and has to make decisions on his own.”
Among other things, the former world No. 1 focused on the competition with which the two dominators measure themselves and will measure themselves in the future: “I don’t think Djokovic can face the younger ones in three out of five matches, the recovery capabilities at 39 years old are no longer the same, even if he is the most successful of all – he said -. Then there is Zverev, who still has nothing precluded, but improving at 28 years old is more difficult. The same goes for Medvedev: It depends on how much they are willing to work to change things, some don’t want to change.”
