Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner backed to deliver ‘great Wimbledon final’ by former world No 4

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Carlos Alcaraz’s “unbelieve pedigree” has been hailed by former world No 4 Greg Rusedski – who also backed the Spaniard and Jannik Sinner to deliver a “great Wimbledon final” this summer.

World No 2 Alcaraz will kickstart his Wimbledon prep at Queen’s this week, where he will aim to defend his title before also targeting a successful title defence at SW19.

The Spaniard comes into the grass court season fresh off his third Grand Slam victory at the French Open, where he became the youngest male player to win Slams on all three surfaces.

Clay and grass are very different surfaces, though Alcaraz has proven he is capable of huge success on both.

And Rusedski, a former US Open finalist, admits he is excited to see how the Spaniard fares this year after his Roland Garros victory.

“I think the French Open this year for Carlos, everything kind of came into place,” said Rusedski, speaking at a special ‘Pickleball Slam’ event in Kingston-upon-Thames.

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“He came in with a bit of an injury on his elbow, he had a little bit of a problem with the groin. He wasn’t playing his best tennis but he still found a way to win.

“Also on top of that, you’ve got to look at that Sinner wasn’t coming in healthy, and Novak Djokovic got injured with the knee and meniscus.

“But to win on three surfaces and be the youngest guy to win on clay, grass, and hard courts, the guy to do that before was a certain guy called Rafael Nadal, so he’s got an unbelievable pedigree and I’m excited to see if he can transition his form and get healthy for Wimbledon.”

Much of the build-up ahead of Wimbledon is focusing on Alcaraz and the new world No 1 Sinner, with the pair the top two players in the ATP Rankings for the very first time.

With world No 3 and seven-time SW19 champion Djokovic potentially out of the event with his meniscus issue, the two are currently heavy favourites to reach the final.

Rusedski believes that the two would deliver a memorable match should they meet in a major final for the first time – and hopes that the two will continue reaching new heights like rivalries before them.

He added: “I see them as the one and two to go to the finals.

“I think that will be a great Wimbledon final – they have one major apiece this year and they met at the French Open.

“For me, you need rivalries. It’s great to have great champions and great players, but what made the Big Three so special was that you had Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic playing in majors the whole time.

“You had Andy Murray there as well, you had Stan Wawrinka that showed up as well – but you had those core guys.

“Growing up myself in the 1980s it was always John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg, Chrissie Evert and Martina Navratilova – the biggest rivalry in tennis, meeting 80 times.

“So for me, the public has to see the two best players or the ones setting the records playing in finals at majors week in, week out – as that’s the peak.”

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