Jannik Sinner Calls Carlos Alcaraz ‘Most Entertaining Player’ As He Hopes to Continue ‘Great Rivalry’ with Him in 2026
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will be chasing history at the Australian Open, where both will be starting their 2026 campaigns.
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Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)
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Jannik Sinner is focused only on the present and cannot tell whether someone in the future would disrupt his and Carlos Alcaraz‘s sheer dominance on the men’s tour. Both he and Alcaraz are in Incheon, South Korea, for the exhibition event, set to be held on January 10.
It will be their eighth meeting since the 2025 season. Last year, they squared off in six official matches and in the unofficial Six Kings Slam final, which Sinner won. But on the tour, the four-time Grand Slam champion lifted titles at Wimbledon and the ATP Finals, losing the finals of the Italian Open, French Open, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open.
Sinner and Alcaraz are considered the undisputed Big 2 of tennis at the moment. No player can challenge their dominance, including 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who lost three times in Major semifinals to them last year.
The World No. 1 and the World No. 2 have clinched the last eight Grand Slam titles and have also won a combined 26 titles from 35 finals since the 2024 season. Sinner is hoping to continue his great rivalry with Alcaraz this season as well.
We are happy to provide you with hopefully a good tennis match tomorrow, but it’s not gonna reflect in any of us, of how we are going to start a tournament in Australia. So we are here to make, hopefully a good match on as many people trying to show what tennis is about and we have one of the best entertainers [points to Alcaraz] if not the best entertainer in tennis and with me, we have a great rivalry coming up and we also need to see how long we can keep up with this level that what the victory have done we we cannot compare our own story I think how how everything it should be and you.
Jannik Sinner said at the press conference in Incheon
Sinner trails 6-10 in the head-to-head matchups against the six-time Grand Slam champion, who last year won the most on the men’s tour, a total of eight titles from 11 finals. The 24-year-old added six titles to his trophy cabinet from 10 finals.
Brad Gilbert backs Jannik Sinner to win three Grand Slam titles in the 2026 season
Jannik Sinner is widely considered the most consistent player compared to Carlos Alcaraz. Last year, he finished the season with eight titles, while last year, it was six.
Those titles also include four Majors and two ATP Finals. He also became the youngest man in the Open Era to reach four Grand Slam finals as well as the ATP Finals in a calendar year last year. Coco Gauff‘s former coach, Brad Gilbert, thinks if the Italian dominates Alcaraz, he can finish the 2026 season with three Grand Slam titles.
But I feel like the situation now with Alcaraz, obviously, we don’t know what’s going to happen going forward, but I foresee Sinner having a monster season. I don’t think he’ll lose more than five times in 2026. I think if he gets over Alcaraz and starts beating him… I think he’s going to win three majors in ’26.
Brad Gilbert said
Following the Incheon exhibition, Alcaraz and Sinner will be gearing up for the Australian Open, which starts on January 18. Both players will be eying history in Melbourne as Sinner will become the second man after Novak Djokovic in the Open Era to complete the three-peat if he wins. Alcaraz will surpass Rafael Nadal to become the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the Career Grand Slam if he ends the event in his favor.
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