World No. 2 Jannik Sinner had a tremendous campaign in 2025, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns, as well as securing the year-end ATP Finals in Turin. Now, the former coach of Andre Agassi, Brad Gilbert, has dropped the gauntlet in favor of the Italian to have an exemplary year in 2026.
In the first episode of the Big T Podcast, Gilbert discussed the season’s expectations alongside former players Andrea Petkovic and Mark Petchey, where he exclaimed that he expects Sinner to have a tremendous year. He said,
“If you put Andre and Novak Djokovic in a blender, you come up with Sinner. And yet he’s a lot more methodical on the court, like Pete Sampras. He’s very unflappable. However, I feel that the situation now with Alacaraz is… Obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen going forward, but I foresee Sinner having a monster season,” said Gilbert
“I don’t think he will lose more than five times in ’26. I think if he gets over Alcaraz and starts beating him, where maybe three out of four, I think he’s going to win three Majors in 2026,” added Gilbert.
Furthermore, Gilbert expected Sinner and Alcaraz to be the sole Grand Slam winners in 2026, potentially making it a 12 straight Grand slams shared between the two current behemoths of men’s tennis.
“I think that’s where we are headed potentially. Obviously, what’s going to happen with Alcaraz is somewhat unforeseen… I’ll put the over/under on the two of them generously. They have won the last eight. I’ll say by the end of ’26 they will be at 12 straight slams,” said Gilbert.
