Gasquet: "I don't believe that Alcaraz and Sinner will ever reach Nadal's quality on clay"

After the tremendous and historic final of Roland Garros between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, where the Spaniard saved three match points to claim his second title in Paris and fifth Grand Slam, many former tennis players dared to assert that both the Italian and the Spaniard are above the Big 3. One of them was John McEnroe, who boldly stated that both Alcaraz and Sinner could defeat the best Rafa Nadal on clay. Another was Mats Wilander, who confessed that he had never seen anything like it in tennis after the final between the number one and number two. But then Richard Gasquet came to bring some harmony and common sense.

The Frenchman, who coincidentally played his final professional match against Sinner in the second round of Roland Garros, defended the leaders of his generation and for many, the three best tennis players in history: Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. He began with the aforementioned statements by McEnroe: "Nadal had incredible quality. I'm convinced that at Roland Garros, at his best, he would be above Sinner and Alcaraz. When I played against Jannik, I didn't play well at all (6-3, 6-0, 6-4). I'm 39 years old. If I had played against Rafa at the same level, he wouldn't have given me more than two games," he commented on the French podcast 'Super Moscato Show' and in statements reported by ‘Sportklub’.

Temper expectations with Sinner and Alcaraz

He then defended the 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, and the eight-time Wimbledon winner, Roger Federer, while calling for patience with Alcaraz and Sinner: "Djokovic is not playing at the same level this season as he was a few years ago, but he still defeated Alcaraz at the Australian Open last winter. On the other hand, Jannik is 23 and Carlos is 22. We'll have to wait for them to reach their full potential. Federer played better at 27-28 than at 22."

Gasquet insisted that, as of now, Sinner, without mentioning Alcaraz, still lacks certain things to reach the level of the three masters, using himself as an example: "I played against Novak in 2015 when he was tenth in the world. I lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. And he was at his peak. Sinner is incredible, but I think he is still below the three greats. Of course, he will improve."

To close the debate, he unequivocally stated that there has never been and will never be anyone like Rafael Nadal on clay: "Nadal had such a high level that he could always win Roland Garros. I don't think Sinner and Alcaraz will ever reach the quality of Rafa on clay. In his time, finals lasted three or four sets. He was too strong for the others," concludes Gasquet, who believes in the level and success that both Sinner and Alcaraz will achieve but prefers to lower expectations when comparing them to the Big 3.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Gasquet: "No creo que Alcaraz y Sinner alcancen jamás la calidad de Nadal en tierra batida"