La curieuse comparaison d'Evert entre Seles et Alcaraz : "Nunca sabríamos que habría pasado"
La première numéro 1 de l'histoire du classement WTA pense que Sinner est si dominant en raison de l'absence de l'Espagnol, tout comme entre Monica et Graf.
Jannik Sinner is the clear dominator of the ATP circuit. However, for Chris Evert, this is due to the absence of Carlos Alcaraz due to a wrist injury, whom she has surprisingly compared to Monica Seles, drawing a parallel between the rivalry of the Italian and the Spanish tennis players and that of the American tennis player Steffi Graf.
In her time, Seles was the greatest talent on the women's circuit, world number 1, with all expectations set on her to become the best in history. However, in the middle of a match, she was stabbed by a fan of Steffi Graf and was never the same again. Although nothing can compare to this terrible situation, Evert believes that the absence of Alcaraz (just like Seles' absence back then) has benefited Sinner to break all possible records.
"Monica was the world number one in 1993 when she was stabbed: from then on, during her absence, Steffi took power. A similar phenomenon has occurred with Jannik: he dominated without his main rival, Alcaraz, injured and unavailable. Until Roland Garros, he was untouchable, and I hope he will be just as successful on the grass of Wimbledon. In the five consecutive Masters 1000 tournaments he won, I saw his opponents intimidated, unable to unsettle him," she stated in an interview with Tennis World Italia.
Evert reveals Sinner's biggest enemy
However, the first world number 1 in the history of the WTA ranking also had words of praise for Sinner, who has won all the Masters 1000 tournaments held so far in 2026 and has shown that, whether Alcaraz has been on the circuit or not, in these tournaments he is the best current tennis player. However, his physical condition remains a major question mark for the Grand Slams, something she also emphasized.
"Sinner's worst enemy is himself: he must stay healthy and avoid performance declines. If he manages to do so, I believe that in ten years we will be talking about a truly extraordinary career. The problem for everyone else, when facing Jannik, is having to outdo themselves. However, personally, I will never underestimate Novak," she concluded, highlighting the Serbian player as the only one capable of stopping him at the moment, as was the case at the Australian Open.
When Alcaraz returns, the big question will be whether all this time of inactivity has affected his game, and how he will manage to compete again against players of the caliber of Sinner or Djokovic in the major tournaments. A wrist injury is very complicated, both physically and mentally, so he will have to work on both aspects very effectively to return to his former self and break the dominance of the Italian player.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La curiosa comparativa de Evert entre Seles y Alcaraz: "Nunca sabríamos que habría pasado"