Carlos Alcaraz Admits Playing Jannik Sinner on Indoor Hardcourts is ‘One of the Most Difficult Challenges’ in Tennis

In any other tournament, Carlos Alcaraz would have had a slight edge against Jannik Sinner because he has dominated the Italian in the head-to-head matchups, holding a 10-5 record. But when they walk onto the Pala Alpitour on November 16 for the championship match of the ATP Finals, Sinner will have an edge.

It’s because the ATP Finals is an indoor hardcourt tournament, where Alcaraz has lifted just one title– this year’s Rotterdam Open by defeating Alexander Zverev. Before arriving in Turin, the six-time Grand Slam champion even suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the Paris Masters, where Sinner clinched the title for the first time by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime.

It’s the Canadian ace whom Alcaraz knocked out in the semifinals of the year-end event, following which, he admitted that facing Sinner in an indoor hardcourt event is a tough challenge.

He beat me 6-3 pretty easily, to be honest. In sport, it’s a totally different feeling from going to a match. I said that playing against Jannik on indoor court is one of the best or most difficult challenges that we have in tennis right now. I think he has a winning streak of 30 to 31 matches in a row.

Carlos Alcaraz said at the press conference

Alcaraz will be meeting the four-time Grand Slam champion for the second time in an indoor hardcourt event following the 2021 Paris Masters- also their career’s first meeting- which Alcaraz won after tough straight sets. In their overall encounters on hardcourts, Alcaraz has won seven of their nine meetings.

On the indoor court, we’re playing in front of his home crowd. That makes it even more difficult playing against him. Let’s see tomorrow. But I’m ready to take the challenge and I’m ready to play a really good tennis.

Carlos Alcaraz added

Win or lose in the final, Alcaraz will still be ending the season as the No.1 player. The six-time Grand Slam stayed at the No.2 spot for about a week because of Sinner’s back-to-back wins at the Vienna Open and the Paris Masters.

Jannik Sinner thinks Alex de Minaur can become a top 5 player

En route to securing the spot in the summit clash of the ATP Finals, Jannik Sinner knocked out Alex de Minaur. The Aussie, who made his second ATP Finals appearance, was on the verge of elimination but secured a spot in the semifinals for the first time after a straight-set win over Lorenzo Musetti. And as expected, de Minaur couldn’t cross the semifinal hurdle in the form of Sinner, losing the match in straight sets. Sinner, however, is predicting a bright future for the Aussie, believing de Minaur has the ability to become a top-five player.

Also, today, the backhand was much stronger than maybe in Vienna. He is getting better and [becoming] a more consistent player at high levels. He can now play this high level not only for half a set, but he goes basically all out. At the end of the day, top five, I think he can make it because physically he’s very, very strong. Great mentality.

Jannik Sinner said at the press conference

The win helped Sinner improve his head-to-head record over de Minaur to 13-0, and it was also his fourth win this season. De Minaur reached his career-best ranking last year (No.6). At present, he is standing in the seventh spot.

De Minaur ended his season with one title. He lost the Rotterdam Open to Carlos Alcaraz and later denied Alejandro Davidovich Fokina his career’s first title at the Citi Open.

After the ATP Finals, Sinner won’t be playing the Davis Cup Finals, which start on November 16. Italy will be bidding to win its third consecutive title.

Also read: Ben Shelton Comes to Terms with the Level of His Game After Crashing Out of the ATP Finals in Turin

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