Agassi: "There is only one tennis player from my generation who could compete with the level of Sinner and Alcaraz"

Andre Agassi made one of the most striking comments during the broadcast of the Wimbledon 2026 semifinal between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The American, regarded as one of the greatest players in history, stated that he barely sees a player from his generation capable of matching the level displayed today by the Italian and Carlos Alcaraz.

Far from praising the big names of the late nineties and early 2000s, Agassi was adamant.

"My generation doesn’t count. There's only one player I can think of that, playing his best tennis, could compete with a level like this. Just one: Marat Safin", he stated during the broadcast.

The words of the eight-time Grand Slam champion are particularly noteworthy because they come just hours after Safin himself made statements in the opposite direction. The Russian recently claimed that Sinner and Alcaraz wouldn’t have been number one or number two in the world if they had competed in the era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, believing that the overall level of the circuit has declined compared to two decades ago.

Andre Agassi: “My generation doesn’t count. There’s one guy I can think of from my generation that, playing his best tennis, could compete with levels like this. One guy and one guy only: Marat Safin.”

Interesting take from Andre while he commentates the Djokovic-Sinner SF 👀🎾

— 🎾nebby🎾 (@1gamesetmatch) July 10, 2026

Agassi believes only Marat Safin could compete against the current level of Sinner and Alcaraz

Now, Agassi offers a completely different view. The American believes that today's tennis has reached very high levels of excellence and places only Safin, at his best, at the required level to challenge on equal terms with the two great dominators of the current circuit.

A huge praise for the champion of the US Open 2000 and the Australian Open 2005, whose talent was always considered extraordinary, although he never managed to maintain the necessary consistency to build a record matching his ability. It should be clarified that Agassi's words exclude the Big 3, considering all of them at a supreme level and not as his contemporaries, despite having had great battles with Roger and Rafa, in particular.

The eternal debate about the comparison between generations regains strength once again. This time, with two legends offering radically opposing views: while Safin diminishes the value of Sinner and Alcaraz’s dominance, Agassi argues that very few players from the past could have kept up with them.