Patrick Mouratoglou states who he thinks has the better forehand out of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

British tennis legend Tim Henman sparked plenty of debate on social media with a comment he made during the US Open.

Analysing Carlos Alcaraz‘s game upon his return from injury in New York, Henman said he thinks the Spaniard’s forehand is the greatest the sport has ever seen, even better than the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro. Even after being out for four months, Alcaraz’s forehand was helping him comfortably win matches en route to the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Perhaps the only player currently on the ATP Tour whose forehand can rival Alcaraz’s is world number one Jannik Sinner.

In a post on Instagram, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was asked to compare the forehands of different players on the ATP Tour. Picking between Arthur Fils and Alcaraz, Mouratoglou did not hesitate to choose the latter.

The 56-year-old Frenchman then picked Alcaraz’s forehand over that of US Open runner-up Ben Shelton, who beat the seven-time major champion en route to the final at Flushing Meadows. Then, asked to pick between Alcaraz and Sinner, Mouratoglou said: “Very close. I’ll still go with Alcaraz.”

The Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry was paused for pretty much the entirety of 2026, and will not resume until at least 2027 after the Italian ended his season with a knee injury. The ‘new two’ played just once this year, in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters, where Sinner came out on top to secure his fourth straight Masters 1000 crown and reclaim world number one status.

It followed a blockbuster year of back-and-forths in 2025, during which Alcaraz and Sinner contested six matches, all of which were finals. Three of those meetings were Grand Slam finals, with Alcaraz winning at Roland Garros and the US Open, while Sinner triumphed at Wimbledon.

They could have met in the final of the Australian Open earlier this season, having both reached at least the semifinals on either side of the draw. Alcaraz did his part, beating Alexander Zverev in the final four at Melbourne Park, but Sinner fell to Novak Djokovic in his semifinal.

Mouratoglou was then asked to pick the best serve on the ATP Tour and started off by rating Hubert Hurkacz over the likes of Djokovic, Jakub Mensik, Alcaraz and Matteo Berrettini. But he said Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s serve trumped the Pole’s.

Comparing Perricard’s and Shelton’s, Mouratoglou went with the American, but admitted he was not as good a server as 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios. Finally, picking between Sinner and Kyrgios, Mouratoglou went with the Australian.

Kyrgios has been largely inactive on the ATP Tour this year, having played just four singles matches. He has just one win to his name in 2026, which he clinched at the Stuttgart Open.

This article first appeared on The Tennis Gazette and was syndicated with permission.