Early Federer/Nadal Era

For those of you who lived through the early stages of the Federer/Nadal rivalry/era, how does the current Alcaraz/Sinner era compare?

I wasn’t watching much tennis in the early-mid 2000s and missed most of the peak Federer/Nadal era.

It feels like whenever Alcaraz and Sinner are both in the draw, everyone has them pencilled in to meet in the final no matter what. Also seems like the rest of the tour is far behind the level of these two.

Was the overall state of men’s tennis different back then or did it have similar vibes?