Jannik Sinner will be eyeing up a golden 2026, with the uncertainty surrounding his big rival Carlos Alcaraz fuelling a belief that he can achieve something very special in 2026.
Sinner is preparing for the defence of his Australian Open title, with the Italian looking invincible as he swept up the title in the opening Grand Slam of the season for the last two years.
He heads to Australia as the red-hot favourite to win the title once again and his hopes have only been strengthened by split in Alcaraz’s camp that saw the sudden exit of his long-time coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.
If Sinner lives up to his billing and wins a third straight Australian Open title at a moment when Alcaraz suffers a dip following his coaching upheaval, talk will inevitably turn to a year of domination for the Italian.
He came perilously close to winning a calendar Grand Slam of all four majors last season, with the match points he missed in the French Open final quickly followed by his maiden Wimbledon title success a few weeks later.
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If he had converted one of those match points against Alcaraz in Paris, Sinner would have headed into the US Open with a calendar Grand Slam on his mind and he reached the final in New York, losing against Alcaraz.
It wouldn’t take much for Sinner to win a few extra points in Paris and an additional match at the US Open to make a very good 2025 into something historic in 2026, with no male player completing the calendar Grand Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all won three of the four majors in the same year and former British No 1 Greg Rusedski does not believe this will be the season that sees complete domination from one player in the men’s game.
“Do I think he’s going to win the calendar Slam?” pondered Rusedski in the latest episode of his Off Court with Greg podcast. “I don’t think he will win all four, no. But if he wins in Australia, where is is the big favourite, and then gets the French Open, then we will all be talking about it.
“We saw Novak try to do that a few years back and he was one match away against Daniil Medvedev at the US Open and lost it at the final hurdle after winning three majors.
“If anyone can do it, it’s Jannik. He has great memories of Australia at the start of the year, but can he bounce back and win the French Open? That’s the big question.
“Also with Carlos Alcaraz, where is he going to be. There’s lots of question marks going into the season, but Sinner keeps improving.
“I’ve been watching videos of him preparing in Dubai and he is getting stuck in. He’s working in approaching the net and improving. He is a complete player and this thing upstairs, the brain, it’s unbelievable how strong he is.”
Sinner and Alcaraz have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between them, highlighting the dominance they have over their rivals in the men’s game.
So if there is any slight dip from Alcaraz in 2026, Sinner may have a chance to put himself among the game’s all-time greats by achieving a feat only the true giants of tennis could dream of.
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