Jannik Sinner puts spotlight on Djokovic as Italian downplays Alcaraz rivalry

Jannik Sinner claimed that his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz was inferior to the Spaniard’s duel with Novak Djokovic. The Italian has contested multiple exciting, close matches with the world No 2, and their rivalry has already been likened to the one between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. But Sinner has taken a step back, claiming that Alcaraz was too far ahead for the pair to be opponents and hailing his contests with Djokovic.

Alcaraz and Sinner have long been touted as two of the biggest young stars in men’s tennis, with the duo tipped to carry the sport when players like Djokovic and Nadal eventually retire. They have already met six times on the tour with their head-to-head tied at 3-3 – including an epic US Open quarter-final in 2022 that lasted more than five hours which was won by Alcaraz.

Juan Martin del Potro had previously called them “the Federer-Nadal of the next few years” and Alcaraz has always been happy to discuss his duels with Sinner. But the man himself believes that he hasn’t done enough yet to be in a real rivalry with the two-time Grand Slam champion.

“Look, at the moment it’s tough to talk about this rivalry because I feel he has won so many things at the moment,” the world No 7 said ahead of the China Open. “I think at the moment he’s still a better player, no? He has shown this. He was No 1 in the world already couple of times. I think at the moment the biggest rivalry is him and Novak.”

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While Sinner thought the Alcaraz vs Djokovic rivalry was currently more important, he still knew that he had contested some epic battles with the 20-year-old so early on in their careers. He continued:  “But in the other way, for sure every time when we play against, it’s a really good match. I think we both show the best out of ourselves.”

And the 22-year-old was hoping to put himself in a position to be on-par with Alcaraz, who already has two Major titles to his name. “At the moment I’m very focused about myself because I have to improve also physically because I feel like I have a lot of potential physically,” Sinner added.

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“That’s also the reason why I played much less tournaments this year than last year, because I have to prepare the body to win the big tournaments.  It’s going to be a question what will be answered in the future, no? I would be happy to be the rivalry of Carlos, for sure. I feel like that I have the potential to do it. But let’s see.  It’s all about the future. We can’t say what’s happening.”

Although he doesn’t want to brand it a rivalry, Sinner could well meet Alcaraz at this week’s China Open. The pair are in the same half of the draw and would face off in the semi-final if they both made it there. But the field in Beijing is brutal, with eight of the world’s top 10 competing.

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