Carlos Alcaraz Explains Why Jannik Sinner is ‘Obsessed’ with Him: “It’s Logical and Normal”

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and World No.2 Jannik Sinner took home eight and six titles, respectively, this season.

Carlos Alcaraz Explains Why Jannik Sinner is ‘Obsessed’ with Him: “It’s Logical and Normal”

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

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Former French tennis player Nicolas Mahut alleged that Jannik Sinner is “obsessed” with Carlos Alcaraz when he talked about their rivalry. In their head-to-head matchups, the Italian trails 6-10, with his ATP Finals win being his second victory over the Spaniard in their last nine meetings.

It was Alcaraz who gave Sinner probably the biggest heartbreak of his career when he came from two sets down and saved three championship points in the fourth set, before eventually denying the World No.2 his first French Open title. It was Alcaraz again who stopped him from defending the US Open title as well as the year-end No.1 title.

Alcaraz, when asked about Mahut’s claim, said the ‘obsession’ is not one-sided, as both want to improve their game to defeat each other. He told Marca:

I think both. He has lost two or three matches in the last two years, and the vast majority have been with me. Jannik has to see and think about what he has to improve to beat the player he has not been able to beat more times. It’s logical and it’s normal. I have lost to more players, but my thinking is to try to improve and do things so that the next time we face each other, I will be a much better player.

This year, they met in the finals of the Italian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, Cincinnati Masters, US Open, and the ATP Finals. Sinner lost to just two players not named Alcaraz this season: to eventual champion Alexander Bublik at the Halle Open and to Tallon Griekspoor (gave him the walkover due to cramps) at the Shanghai Masters. Last year, Sinner lost just six matches, half of which were to the six-time Grand Slam champion.

Nicole Pratt on what Jannik Sinner is not utilizing much

Jannik Sinner admitted that he worked a lot on his service games after his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open. Former player Nicole Pratt, during the Australian Open podcast, said Sinner has everything that could make him one of the greatest of the game, but also urged him to come forward toward the net during points.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

What is so exciting about Sinner is that I still feel he has an untouched part of the court, which he is not utilizing as much as he could, which is the transition and moving forward. There is no question from the serving perspective now, where he has done the work on that and fine-tuned that with Darren Cahill. Off the ground, there’s not another player who hits the ball as well as him. He has improved his movement.

Sinner, despite missing several tournaments due to his doping ban, ended his season with a 58-6 win-loss record with six titles (Australian Open, Wimbledon, China Open, Vienna Open, Paris Masters, and the ATP Finals). He also failed to defend six titles.

Because of his US Open defeat, he was dethroned from the No.1 ranking by Alcaraz, who once again dropped to the second spot when Sinner clinched the Paris Masters. Sinner chose not to feature at the Davis Cup Finals, which got underway in Turin on November 18. Italy, also the two-time defending champion, defeated Austria in the quarterfinals to schedule the semifinal clash with Belgium.

Alcaraz wanted to play the Davis Cup, but he suffered a hamstring injury during the ATP Finals clash with Sinner and ended up withdrawing from the team event. Spain, which last won the title in 2019, defeated the Czech Republic to set up the clash with Germany in the last four. Last year, Spain suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

Also read: FITP President Angelo Binaghi Wants Italian Open to Become 5th Grand Slam: “We Need to Challenge a Monopoly”