Nadal also revealed who that player could be before commenting on the gap in competition between Alcaraz, Sinner, and the rest of the field.

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“”I think Sinner and Alcaraz need someone to push them… Fonseca? I think he’s still young and not in a position to think about that,” Nadal said. “They need someone to push them a bit because they’ve set themselves apart from everyone else and in any form they can beat anyone, until they come up against that other player. Those of us watching from the outside have the feeling that even if they play badly, they’re going to keep winning and reaching all the finals.”

Fans called out the Spaniard for what they saw as a “hypocritical” take, noting that he himself dominated tennis alongside Roger Federer before Novak Djokovic joined the rivalry.“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand why the Big 3 keep pushing this narrative that we need someone to upset Sinner and Alcaraz when they literally dominated everything for a decade and the new generation has JUST started. So hypocritical,” one fan wrote.

“Not Nadal admitting Djokovic’s surprise rise to GOATness in 2011 made him & Federer so much better players 😆! I agree with him though. But imo it seems none of them want it bad enough like Djokovic did. They’re just not hungry to beat Sincaraz imo. They’re happy being mediocre,” one fan said.

How Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have dominated tennis in last two years?How Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have dominated tennis in last two years?

Alcaraz and Sinner have split all the Grand Slams contested over the past two years. Alcaraz, now 22, is already a six-time major champion, while the 24-year-old Italian has collected four Grand Slam titles. Sinner has also captured the ATP Finals in both 2024 and 2025. Notably, in 2024 and 2025, he became the first player since Novak Djokovic to finish back-to-back seasons with more than 11,000 ranking points.The 2025 season also marked the first time since 2016 that the top two ATP players ended the year with over 11,000 points.