Former world number one Roger Federer’s former coach Ivan Ljubicic believes that Germany’s Alexander Zverev is ahead of Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz when it comes to playing on the indoor hard courts. The 21-year-old, who has already won four Grand Slam tournaments in his short career, is seen by many as the perfect heir to the Big Three.
Two of those big wins came this year. Despite all this, Federer’s former coach Ljubicic believes that the German Zverev is ahead of him when it comes to playing on the indoor hard court. The 45-year-old also stated that he believes Sinner will remain a player to beat in the competition.
“Yes, it is for me [Sinner] the dark horse (outsider),” he said in an interview with Sky Sports, quoted by the English newspaper Daily Express. “Also because Alcaraz still has to convince me in the hall. On the hard court he has a very high level, but on the indoor court he suffered a lot last year in Turin, especially from a mental point of view. Let’s see if that changes this year. If we want to find someone closer to Jannik, I would say Zverev.”
Alcaraz celebrated his first major title win of the year in Paris, where he won the French Open for the first time after defeating Zverev in the final in a five-set thriller 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1 , defeated 6:2. He then won the Wimbledon title for the second time in a row after defeating legendary Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 in the final. Alcaraz celebrated his last triumph at the China Open, where he defeated reigning world number one Sinner in the final 6:7, 6:4, 7:6. His last appearance was at the Shanghai Masters, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Tomas Machac in straight sets 7-6, 7-5.
