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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have formed a duopoly in men's tennis over the last few years. They sit thousands of points clear of their rivals at the top of the rankings and have shared the last nine Grand Slam titles. But Alcaraz's recent wrist injury has exposed a gaping hole in the rest of the tour.

The Spanish star withdrew from the recent Barcelona Open after getting injured and will now miss the rest of the clay season - the Madrid Open, Italian Open, and most importantly, the French Open. In his absence, Novak Djokovic, who turns 39 next month, seems to be the only real threat to Sinner at the biggest tournaments. And that's only when he plays.

But the Italian believes there are five up-and-coming players worth keeping an eye on, who are already proving to be potential threats to his and Alcaraz's dominance. Sinner recently faced Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca for the first time, beating him in two tight sets in Indian Wells.

And this week, he got the chance to face Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, who was ranked outside the top 900 last March and has already reached the world's top 50 with an impressive showing this clay season.

Jodar won his maiden title in Marrakech, and then reached the Barcelona Open semi-finals before getting to the quarter-finals in Madrid, shocking fifth seed Alex de Minaur en route. And Sinner believes Fonseca and Jodar are part of an exciting cohort of players born in 2006.

"He's a very, very talented player. He was warming up today with Nicolai [Budkov Kjaer], the Norwegian guy," the world No. 1 said of Jodar earlier this week. "And they're in a very interesting year, you know, born 2006. There's Joao, Jodar, Nicolai, [Rei] Sakamoto, they're all very, very good players, and it's a very strong year.

"Jodar is a very, very clean hitter, very easy power. You can hear with the sound, you know, when he touches it, and it's a good sound coming from the racket. He's very, very talented. He's going to be a great, great player in the future, and he's already showing. I like the mentality, it's quite calm. I don't know him personally, but he seems very humble. So, yeah, he's a very, very good player, and I wish him only the best."

After facing Jodar, and beating him 6-2 7-6(0), Sinner had even more praise for the teenager - and named another young star who enjoyed a breakout week in Madrid, Alexander Blockx. "I think [he is] a player who has been ranked very, very high at the beginning of the season, and playing some incredible tennis. In Barcelona winning. Marrakech, I know he won. Making final in Barcelona, coming here and making quarters. He's already a very solid player, and I think he has shown why, you know. He's playing very, very high quality tennis," he added.

"I think now, especially this tournament here, very young players are coming through. We cannot forget also about Blockx, for example, you know. He's a bit under the radar, but is he an incredible player. Everyone is improving, you know, so you need always to be in the present moment.

"That's also one of the reasons why I went to watch him, you know, him and Joao Fonseca. I like to watch because I know that they are going to be potentially the future opponents most of the time. Everyone is a very different player, and you need to adjust yourself. Even though here it's a quite unique place to play, but in the same time you also need to find solutions here."

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