Italian tennis great Adriano Panatta believes Carlos Alcaraz will be “one of the protagonists” of the 2024 season, while claiming Novak Djokovic will play less of a role.
The former French Open winner also expects Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner to become “the queen couple of the circuit” and thinks they will “retrace” Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s rivalry.
Sinner and Alcaraz have shared the three ‘big titles’ on offer so far in the 2024 season to reinforce their status as the two leading stars from the young generation of ATP players.
Carlos Alcaraz ended his eight-month wait for a title by securing the Indian Wells Open in March. Prior to winning the Masters 1000 event, the 20-year-old Spaniard’s only final appearance since his triumph at Wimbledon in July last year had come in Cincinnati in August.
Sinner won his maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and claimed his second ATP Masters 1000 event at the Miami Open last week. The 22-year-old Italian’s latest victory — his third title of the year — has seen him overtake Alcaraz to reach a career-high ranking of world No 2.
Novak Djokovic has not won a tournament since his triumph at the ATP Finals in November at the end of his superb 2023 season. The Serbian was beaten by Sinner in the last four at the Australian Open and suffered a shock defeat to Luca Nardi in the third round in Indian Wells.
The 36-year-old, who remains the world No 1, skipped the Miami Open last month and is set to make his return to action at the Monte Carlo Masters, which begins on Sunday.
Panatta, a former world No 4 and Davis Cup champion, backed Alcaraz to be a strong contender this year ahead of Djokovic as he made a prediction about the Spaniard’s rivalry with Sinner.
“For me, Alcaraz will be one of the protagonists of 2024. Nole less, in my opinion. In the long run, Carlos will emerge,” he said, as quoted by Ubitennis.
“Sinner-Alcaraz will be the queen couple of the circuit in the coming years, retracing what Federer-Nadal has done in the past years.”
The Italian, who won his lone Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros in 1976, also discussed Sinner’s prospects for the clay-court season.
“Logically he prefers fast courts, but if he plays as he has done in recent months, in my opinion he can also win on carpet, lawn, wood: everywhere. Then there are also the opponents,” assessed Panatta.
Panatta, who played between 1969 and 1983, was the only player to defeat tennis legend Bjorn Borg at the French Open, achieving the feat twice.
Sinner, who has made a stunning 22-1 start to the season, will look to translate his blistering hard court form onto clay — a surface on which he has won one title to date. The Italian will face either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Sebastian Korda in his opening match in Monte Carlo.
