No 1 and 2 seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have not only replaced the Big Three, but they are thousands of points ahead of the opposition. Leading into the quarterfinals of the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne, top 10 players Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton played some sublime tennis. The duo appeared to stand a realistic chance of breaking through at a Grand Slam.
But then they ran into Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the last eight. No 1 seed Alcaraz started his quarterfinal against De Minaur with three of the most sublime games seen this year. He moved like water and hit with the power of a sledgehammer and the precision of a laser-guided missile.
Crowd favourite De Minaur was 3-0 down in no time despite playing some excellent tennis himself. Alcaraz made a statement in those opening minutes. De Minaur pulled back to 3-3 as Alcaraz’s level dipped slightly, but he lost the first set 7-5 before losing the next two sets 6-2 and 6-1.
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The Spaniard, in search of the Career Grand Slam if he wins in Melbourne, showed that his best level is still a few notches higher than any player’s other than Sinner. The Italian No 2 seed, aiming to win a third straight Australian Open, did a similar job to Shelton in their quarterfinal. The big American with a cannon-like serve struggled to hold in his opening service game, despite sending down a tournament-leading 232km/h bullet straight at Sinner’s body.
Shelton eventually held his opening service game, but the tone was set. No matter what speed of serve he launched, if it wasn’t perfect in placement or guile, it came back with interest. Sinner is the best returner of serves in the sport and he rattled Shelton, which led to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win for the Italian.
Those two matches, in particular, demonstrated how the pair, who have been dubbed the collective noun “Sincaraz” on tour, are surging ahead of the chasing pack. Of course they lose occasionally, but that is almost always because they play below their best. When they are performing at optimum level, especially at Grand Slams over five sets, they are a league above anyone else.
The data backs this up. They have won the last eight men’s singles Grand Slams between them and played against each other in the last three Grand Slam finals.
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