“Biggest Rivalry Is Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic”: Jannik Sinner Refuses to Count Himself as Spaniard’s Rival

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the next generation of tennis superstars. The two emerging youngsters have had a budding rivalry and thrilled the crowd with amazing tennis every time they have faced each other. However, Sinner has downplayed his rivalry with Alcaraz as he feels Novak Djokovic is still a main rival for the Spaniard.

Jannik Sinner had an underwhelming US Open 2023 campaign and the 20-year-old Italian is now focusing on himself and trying to improve his game. Sinner is not focusing on his rivalry with Alcaraz and leaving it to the future.

Jannik Sinner plays down rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have played some classic matches already in their short careers so far. The Italian has been one of the few players from the new generation of players to go toe-to-toe with Carlos Alcaraz. With their head-to-head tied at 3-3, Sinner and Alcaraz have shown potential to lead the next generation of men’s tennis.

In a viral post on social media, Sinner discussed his rivalry with Alcaraz in detail and tried to downplay it. The Italian feels that at the moment Alcaraz is a better player than him as he has won Grand Slams and the number 1 ranking in the world. The 22-year-old further added that Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz is the big rivalry in tennis right now.

“At the moment it’s tough to talk about this rivalry because I feel he has won so many things at the moment. 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. 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 ourself.”

The Italian even expressed his desire to change this in the future by winning big titles of his own and then challenging Alcaraz for Grand Slams. Sinner is still developing into a complete player and has plenty of time on his side.

Sinner hoping for a rivalry with Alcaraz in the future

Jannik Sinner is one of the brightest young prospects in the tennis world. The Italian mentioned that he hopes to develop a rivalry with Alcaraz in the future as he aims to compete for major titles. Sinner has been picking and choosing the competitions to compete in as he aims to be fresh for the major tournaments on the tennis calendar. The Italian admitted that he feels he has the potential to compete with Carlos Alcaraz and win Grand Slam titles.

“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. That’s also the reason why I played much more less tournaments this year than last year, because I have to prepare the body to win the big tournaments. 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 (smiling).”

Jannik Sinner’s remarks about Carlos Alcaraz shows humility as well as self-belief. The Italian is still coming into his own and his confidence to compete for the biggest honors is remarkable. As Sinner and Alcaraz look to rule the new generation of tennis stars, it will be interesting to see how this rivalry develops.