Novak Djokovic had won three Major titles in 2023, and many expected him to repeat that success this time around until a certain Spaniard and Italian intervened.
Alcaraz beat Djokovic to win Wimbledon for the second time earlier this year, having won a maiden French Open title against Alexander Zverev in June.
There is no doubt that Alcaraz and Sinner are two of the top players on tour, but one ATP star has had his say on who he thinks has had the best career to date.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel Live podcast, former top 30 star Chris Eubanks picked his top five players to have participated at the Next Gen ATP Finals in years gone by.
“I’m going to start with the player who had a career year [in 2024], Taylor Fritz, number one American, he’s held that flag for us,” he said.
“Masters 1000 champion, ATP 500 champion, tonnes of titles at the ATP 250 level, just made a Grand Slam final.
“Number four, Stefanos Tsitsipas, although this year was a little bit of a drop for him I still think that with what he’s already done in his career, with two Grand Slam finals, a three-peat at Monte-Carlo for God’s sake, which is one of the most difficult things to do, he deserves to be at number four.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the third time this year, despite finishing the year ranked outside the top ten for the first time since 2018.
Eubanks unsurprisingly chose a former Grand Slam winner as his third-best Next Gen graduate.
“Number three, we’ve got to go to the number ones in the world, Daniil Medvedev,” he said.
“US Open champion, multiple time Grand Slam finalist, tonnes of Masters 1000 championships, so I think Daniil Medvedev is firmly number three.”
Choosing between Alcaraz and Sinner for the number one spot proved to be a much tougher decision for the 2023 Wimbledon quarter-finalist.
“Number two, I’ve debated this one, but I have to give Sinner number two,” he said.
“Four Grand Slams to two, if I have to decide between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, although Sinner had one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen, Carlos Alcaraz has four Grand Slams, I’ve got to put him at number one.”
How many former Next Gen ATP Finals players have reached the top ten?
Whilst the five names Eubanks mentioned have all reached Major finals, there are plenty of other Next Gen alumni who went on to reach the world’s top ten.
