{"id":2039817,"date":"2026-07-12T15:30:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039817"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T12:30:23","slug":"john-lloyd-names-the-next-real-deal-who-can-challenge-jannik-sinner-and-carlos-alcaraz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2039817","title":{"rendered":"John Lloyd names &#8216;the next real deal&#8217; who can challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">John Lloyd names \u2018the next real deal\u2019 who can challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"12 Jul 2026 4:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"12 Jul 2026 4:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1783870223\"><br \/>\n                            12 Jul 2026 4:30 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                       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class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"John Lloyd names \u2018the next real deal\u2019 who can challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Shelton-Fonseca-Jodar-John-Lloyd-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"John Lloyd, Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                John Lloyd speaks about Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Former British No 1 John Lloyd has discussed Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar as he identified the \u201cnext real deal\u201d in men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who have secured seven and four Grand Slam titles in their careers respectively, have been the two dominant forces on the ATP Tour since the start of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Between them, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\">Sinner<\/a> won nine consecutive majors from the 2024 Australian Open until the 2026 Australian Open.<\/p>\n<p>The streak was broken at the 2026 French Open, where world No 3 Alexander Zverev claimed his maiden major title. Alcaraz did not compete at Roland Garros, while Sinner fell in the second round.<\/p>\n<p>At the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, Sinner and Zverev will face off in the final.<\/p>\n<p>In an exclusive interview, Tennis365 asked Lloyd which young ATP players he sees as the biggest long-term threats to Sinner and Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<p>Lloyd, who was an Australian Open finalist in 1977, began by identifying world No 5 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/ben-shelton\">Shelton<\/a> as \u201cvery dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBen Shelton, but he\u2019s someone \u2014 and he\u2019s still very young \u2014 that\u2019s still searching for that right formula,\u201d Lloyd said.<\/p>\n<h2>Wimbledon News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/kyle-edmund-exclusive-tennis-rule-change-warmup-wimbledon\"><strong>Kyle Edmund doubles down on calls for a radical tennis rule change at Wimbledon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-arthur-fery-novak-djokovic-wimbledon-heroes\"><strong>Wimbledon 2026 heroes: Alex Eala and Arthur Fery take the plaudits after memorable moments<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not quite there yet at the top, top level. He\u2019s not quite there in terms of reading\u2026 these points are more important than others, and this one you have to be a little bit more conservative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all a bit, kind of, \u2018I\u2019m going to go for every ball\u2019, but if he can harness that back a little bit, he\u2019s very dangerous. So I would put him there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lloyd went on to laud 19-year-old Brazilian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/joao-fonseca\">Fonseca<\/a>, who was a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love Fonseca. Out of that group [of young players], I like the look of him big time. He\u2019s pretty damn special,\u201d said the Brit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig breakthrough at the French [Open], he played very well there. He looked the part. He\u2019s a god in Brazil already, and he seems to like it. He likes all that goes with it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLovely game. If I was going to choose someone, I would put him as the next real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former world No 23 then weighed in on Jodar, a 19-year-old Spaniard who made a big breakthrough during the 2026 clay-court season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn clay, he\u2019s definitely dynamic. Hard courts will be good,\u201d Lloyd assessed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot so sure about grass \u2013 it may take a bit of time. His backswing is a bit long at times. But yeah, he\u2019s damn good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/marat-safin-jannik-sinner-carlos-alcaraz-roger-federer-comparison\">Carlos Alcaraz &amp; Jannik Sinner get blunt Federer, Nadal, Djokovic comparison from Marat Safin<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Lloyd names \u2018the next real deal\u2019 who can challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Ewan West 12 Jul 2026 4:30 PM John Lloyd speaks about Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar Former British No 1 John Lloyd has discussed Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar as he identified the \u201cnext real deal\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2039817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2039817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2039817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2039817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2039817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}