Bjorn Borg Highlights Why Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Rivalry Is Important for Men’s Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have met on eight occasions since last season, with the former winning seven of them.

Bjorn Borg Highlights Why Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz Rivalry Is Important for Men’s Tennis

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Bjorn Borg (via X/The Tennis Letter/Score)

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Tennis legend Bjorn Borg has revealed that the rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is good for the sport. This comes as the two stars have dominated the men’s circuit and have been the most consistent players over the past two seasons. Also, they have pushed each other to their limits at Grand Slam tournaments.

For the past eight major tournaments, Alcaraz and Sinner have been the only ones to win them. The former has won two French Open, a US Open, and Wimbledon Championships, while the latter has claimed two Australian Open, a US Open, and Wimbledon. Both players are just one Grand Slam away from completing a Career Grand Slam.

Besides that, they have also enjoyed a fierce rivalry on the court. Alcaraz and Sinner have met each other on eight occasions in the past two years, including five this season. The former leads their head-to-head record 10-5 and has won six of their last seven meetings on the tour.

The last time they met in a Grand Slam final was at the US Open in New York. Alcaraz produced an electric performance to beat the World No.2 in four sets, ending Sinner’s hope of winning three Grand Slams this season. But before that, Sinner had defeated Alcaraz at the Wimbledon final, winning his first grass-court major title.

During an interview with Sky Sports, Bjorn Borg was asked about the rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz. The Swedish legend revealed that Alcaraz and Sinner stepping up since the end of the Big 3’s (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) domination of men’s tennis has helped the sport:

The rivalry with [Novak] Djokovic, [Roger] Federer, and [Rafael] Nadal, unbelievable matches. Then they said, when they stepped away, What is going to happen with tennis today?’ Now you have these two great players, Sinner and Alcaraz; the matches they play are unbelievable, the tennis they play is unbelievable. It’s so great for tennis as a sport.

The only member of the Big 3 still competing is Djokovic. He’s currently 38 and has struggled to keep up with Sinner and Alcaraz’s level on the court. He has struggled to capture a Grand Slam title since the dominance of the duo began.

Bjorn Borg hopes Novak Djokovic keeps his motivation as he nears retirement

Novak Djokovic is the oldest player ranked in the top 20 of the ATP rankings. In fact, he’s one of the oldest in the top 100 alongside the likes of Gael Monfils (39), Roberto Bautista Agut (37), and Marin Cilic (36). There have been calls for him to retire as it is believed that there’s no chance of him competing with the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (via X/The Tennis Letter)

But that has not made Djokovic stop competing on the court. He reached the semi-finals of all the Grand Slam tournaments this season and only couldn’t get past Sinner on two occasions, Alcaraz at the US Open and Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open. During the aforementioned interview, Bjorn Borg revealed that he hopes Djokovic has the motivation to compete with Sinner and Alcaraz:

He is 38 years old, it’s going to be tough with [Jannik] Sinner and [Carlos] Alcaraz and some other players too, but still, he can do it. I hope he has the motivation to play at least for another year.

Djokovic is set to feature at the Shanghai Masters, which kicks off in October. It will be his first tournament since the US Open. He played at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament last year, but managed to reach the final before losing to Sinner in straight sets. He will be competing at the event for the second consecutive season.

Also Read: Former World No.1 Sends Warning to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner As He’s Convinced Joao Fonseca Will Become ‘Incredible Player’