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Serena Williams' childhood coach Rick Macci believes that both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will hit double figures in terms of their Grand Slam title wins.
Alcaraz already has two Grand Slam titles under his belt, having won the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Sinner won his maiden Major at this year's Australian Open after coming back from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev.
Recently, Macci, who played a pivotal part in helping young Venus and Serena Williams ascend to tennis superstardom, sat down with Sportskeeda for an exclusive interview.
During the conversation, the 69-year-old was asked if Alcaraz and Sinner could match up to the standards set by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, who are collectively referred to as the Big Three.
In his response, Macci said that he expects Alcaraz and Sinner to dominate men's tennis for a long time and establish themselves as the 'Big Two'. However, the iconic coach believes that there will be others to challenge the Spaniard and Italian's dominance.
"I think Sinner and Alcaraz and there will be a few more that will enter the mix, but I can see them dominating tennis for a long time. It will be the big two, then someone will enter the mix for sure," Macci told Sportskeeda.
The 69-year-old, who has also coached the likes of Jennifer Capriati and Maria Sharapova, went on to boldly predict that Alcaraz and Sinner will both have Grand Slam titles in double figures. Macci also said that they would both improve their respective games by pushing each other to be better.
"They (Alcaraz and Sinner) now believe and if you believe you will achieve and I definitely think both of them will be double figure grand slam winners. So the sky is the limit for both these guys and what's great about it, they're going to keep pushing each other and that's how you get better because competition makes you a better competitor," Macci added.
"Number one around the corner" - Rick Macci on Jannik Sinner
Shortly after his Australian Open triumph this year, Sinner headed to Rotterdam for the ABN AMRO Open and won the prestigious ATP 500 event. Medvedev's Rotterdam absence due to a combination of fatigue and injury, coupled with Sinner lifting the trophy, helped the Italian break into the top 3 of the ATP Tour rankings for the first time in his career.
The Italian inched even closer to the pinnacle of men's tennis by virtue of victory in the final of the Miami Open. Sinner dethroned Alcaraz and became the new World No. 2. Right now, the Italian is hot on the heels of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, and in early February, Rick Macci predicted that it would not take Sinner long to become No. 1 himself.
"A REALLY GOOD CORNERSTONE of @Janniksin game is how Skiing Champion gets in and out of the CORNERS REALLY GOOD. Number one around the CORNER!" Macci wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Sinner's latest outing saw him ousted, by eventual champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, from the recently-concluded Monte-Carlo Masters in the semifinals.
