Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner leave fans thrilled every time they get on the court. All three of their head-to-head matches in 2024 were action-packed battles, with Alcaraz emerging victorious. But the Spaniard believes that he could’ve ended up losing each of these clashes.
Alcaraz has often claimed that he plays his best tennis when Sinner is on the other side of the net. Facing the “best player in the world” enables him to unleash his true potential. He reiterated these comments during an interview ahead of the Rolex Paris Masters 2024.
“Thanks to him I can raise my level to the top. I always play my best tennis against him. He has shown throughout the year that he is the best player in the world. The way he plays is unbelievable, you know, the best ball striker on the tour for me. Knowing all these things, you have to play at your best, at your 100% and your best tennis if you want to beat him,” Alcaraz said.
Each of their three encounters in 2024 went down to the wire – three sets at the Indian Wells semifinal and Beijing Open finals and a five-set thriller in the French Open semifinal. The El Palmar native emerged victorious in each of these clashes, but the YTD H2H would’ve looked completely different had he not elevated his game against the Italian star.
“Every match that we played it was really, really close – 3 sets, 5 sets, 7-6 in the third. So it has been really close, I could have ended up losing the 3 matches. But I am happy to play against him,” Alcaraz concluded.
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Even Sinner agrees with this statement. In a previous interview, he did mention that the rivals would bring out the best in each other. But his other comments related to the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament got more attention.
Sinner got trolled after Alcaraz admitted the importance of money in exhibition tournament participation
Jannik Sinner was asked about his experience playing in the Saudi exhibition tournament, and the $6 million prize money was also a topic of discussion. It was his comments regarding this topic that received a lot of flak from fans.
Sinner insisted that he didn’t partake in the event because of the lucrative prize pot.
“I don’t play for money. It’s very simple. Of course, it’s a nice prize and everything but for me, I went there because there were possibly the six best players in the world,” Sinner said.
Unfortunately for Sinner, Alcaraz was asked the same question and the latter honestly admitted that money was a huge incentive to participate.
Carlos Alcaraz says money was a big reason he played in Saudi Arabia, ‘If I say I went there just for fun & forget the money, I’m gonna lie’
“Jannik Sinner said in an interview last week that he went to the 6 Kings Slam not for money, that his motivations were different. What… pic.twitter.com/nwWKHkKpPX
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 28, 2024
The contrasting responses led the fans to further criticize Sinner, accusing him of trying too hard to appear humble.
