Carlos Alcaraz Admits He Misses Playing Against Arch-Rival Jannik Sinner: “He Pushes Me to Be a Better Player”

Carlos Alcaraz will be competing at the Japan Open after the Laver Cup.

Carlos Alcaraz Admits He Misses Playing Against Arch-Rival Jannik Sinner: “He Pushes Me to Be a Better Player”

Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner (Image via BBC)

Due to injury issues, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz haven’t been part of the same draw since the Monte-Carlo Masters. Sinner beat him and reclaimed his No.1 ranking, after which the latter played the Barcelona Open, where he picked up a wrist injury and ended up skipping quite a few tournaments.

With the US Open around the corner, many thought they would finally get to watch an Alcaraz versus Sinner match, but it later emerged that the Italian ace injured his knee and would miss this Major. Alcaraz returned to competition at the US Open and lost to Ben Shelton in a five-set thriller in the quarterfinals.

While Alcaraz recovered from the wrist injury, Sinner won titles one after another. After stopping Alcaraz from defending his title at the US Open, the World No.1 clinched the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, with his victory in Rome making him the second man after Novak Djokovic to complete the Career Golden Masters.

But at the French Open, he suffered a complete collapse despite being on the verge of an easy straight-set win. After skipping the warm-up events on grass, Sinner beat the then-newest Grand Slam champion Alexander Zverev to defend his title at Wimbledon, denying Sascha the Channel Slam as he had defeated Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final.

Alcaraz is in London for the Laver Cup, set to start on September 25. After the Laver Cup, he will be in Tokyo for the Japan Open, while Sinner will be in Beijing for the China Open, which means one thing: they again won’t be in the same draw. Alcaraz misses competing against his arch-rival and seeing him around on the tour.

I have text him not too much, but a few times when he been winning everything, you know, mostly at the beginning of the year. I miss him. I miss seeing him around, playing against him. He pushes me to be a better player. So I would say this break of all matches of the rivalry, it’s going to be better, hopefully this year people are going to be waiting for those matches. So I think it’s going to be better.

Carlos Alcaraz told BBC Sport

In the Monte Carlo final, Sinner clinched his second straight win over Alcaraz, defeating the Murcia native in the title clash of the 2025 ATP Finals. The five-time Grand Slam champion trails 7-10 in the head-to-head meetings against Alcaraz.

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Carlos Alcaraz makes feelings known about playing the Laver Cup

Carlos Alcaraz will be competing in the Laver Cup for the third time in his career. He made his debut in 2024, helping Team Europe deny Team World a three-peat. The World No.3 won both his singles matches he played against Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz. But last year in the tournament, he lost to Fritz for the first time in his career. Team World ended up losing the event 15-9.

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz (Image via BBC)

When you have your teammates, the best in the world, by your side, it’s a weird feeling, but it’s beautiful. We played like our lives depend on it. That’s why the Laver Cup is so good to watch as well.

Carlos Alcaraz told BBC Sport

Team Europe is led by Yannick Noah, while Andre Agassi will lead Team World. Alcaraz will be playing alongside Alexander Zverev, Rafael Jodar, Casper Ruud, Flavio Cobolli, Jakub Mensik, and Arthur Fery.

The Murcia native will be chasing his third title of the season in Tokyo following the Laver Cup. Earlier this year, after winning the Australian Open by beating Novak Djokovic, he clinched the Qatar Open by beating Arthur Fils.

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