‘There’s one guy only’ - Andre Agassi names surprise player from ‘my generation’ that could beat Jannik Sinner

Having breezed past Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, Jannik Sinner is on course for yet more tennis history at Wimbledon.

While it's Arthur Fery who has been crowned as the people's champion at Wimbledon, reaching an unprecedented semi-final from the wildcard stage to break British records, it's his opponent who comes up against the biggest threat that tennis offers.

Despite breaking records of his own in the win over Fery to usurp the great Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev now faces the immovable object that is Jannik Sinner.

After breezing past Novak Djokovic in a heavyweight bout, Sinner is now on course for his fifth Grand Slam title after reaching an eighth final in his last 10 tournaments.

In the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, and often even with the Spaniard competing, Sinner has become the outright great of Tennis, as by far the best of this generation.

But how does he fare against generations gone by?

Well, according to Andre Agassi, it's not Rafael Nadal or even Roger Federer who would have been the best player to beat Sinner, but rather a very surprising name.

'There's one guy and one guy only' - Agassi snubs Federer and Nadal in Sinner debate

Speaking while live on BBC commentary during the Wimbledon semi-final bout between Sinner and Djokovic, Agassi revealed the one person he thinks could ever rival this form.

"My generation doesn’t count. There’s one guy I can think of in my generation that playing his best tennis can compete on levels like this [against Jannik Sinner]," Agassi said.

"There’s one guy and one guy only and I would say that’s Marat Safin."

The Russian was a two-time Grand Slam winner, lifting trophies at the US Open in 2000 (earning the world's number one title) and the Australian Open in 2005.

Safin was often eclipsed by Federer, Nadal, and even Agassi himself, but it's the profile of the man which leaves the American star to believe he'd out-Sinner the Italian.

"The great Russian. I mean, this dude could serve from the trees. He could use both wings," he said.

“He knew what he was doing. 6’5, moved really well. You need all those skills to compete at this level. It’s thin margins up there.”

Agassi and Safin met six times on the ATP Tour, with the American winning the first three and the Russian taking the latter three as he perfected his craft.

Sinner's levels have been unprecedented, though.

Despite battling heavy injury scares, the Italian continues to reach final after final and is quickly catching some of the greats in terms of Grand Slam wins, at the ripe age of just 24.