Two days ago, Ivan Ljubicic gave an interview to the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger. The Croatian, who reached No. 3 in the world during his career and had a 2–7 head-to-head record against Rafael Nadal, became Roger Federer’s coach in 2015 alongside Severin Lüthi. He is now the Head of High-Level Tennis at the French Tennis Federation.
When asked specifically about the exceptional Roland-Garros final in which Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner, the Croatian seized the opportunity to respond to John McEnroe, who had claimed that the two finalists would have been favorites even against Rafa at his peak.
Tages-Anzeiger:
Many have called the Paris final one of the greatest in tennis history. Do you agree?
Ivan Ljubicic:
It was a good final. A very, very, very good final. And the drama was perfect, with the saved match points. But people always exaggerate. John McEnroe said Nadal wouldn’t have stood a chance against these guys. That’s nonsense. We haven’t even seen the best of Alcaraz and Sinner yet. They still have a lot of room to improve. The next generation is always better than the previous one. But I don’t think they’re ahead just yet. I sometimes watch matches from 2005, 2008, 2012, 2015—Roger and Rafa. That was already incredible tennis.