Michael Chang believes Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcarazs blossoming rivalry will fill the void left by Rafael Nadals impending retirement.

The Masters 1000 in Shanghai has crowned Jannik Sinner, who continues to be impressive this season and make history of Italian tennis. The 23-year-old from Sesto Pusteria has won the fourth Masters 1000 of his young career, the third in 2024, a testament to the incredible level achieved in the last 12 months.

Carlos Alcaraz rallied from a set down and held his nerve in a deciding tiebreak to beat Jannik Sinner 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) in the China Open final.

With the exception of his 2008 Australian Open title, losses to Nadal and Federer defined Djokovic’s career from that summer until 2011. Both beat him a couple more times each in the closing stages of majors between 2008 and 2010,

The feeling is that a 70-80% version of Djokovic is not enough to defeat two young champions like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. For this reason, it will be very difficult to win another Grand Slam title at 37. The Serbian legend will try to achieve this feat in 2025, focusing mainly on the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships.

Tennis legend Todd Woodbridge believes Novak Djokovic will be “a bit of an underdog” at next year’s Australian Open as he enters “a very different and unusual phase” of his career. The 16-time men’s doubles Grand Slam champion has also compared the rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz to the rivalries contested by Djokovic,