Jannik Sinner Makes “I’m Not Great” Admission About Carlos Alcaraz’s Offer of Teaming Up for This Sport

Carlos Alcaraz is convinced that if he and Jannik Sinner switch to padel and team up for doubles, they will easily defeat Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, the joint No.1 players in the International Padel Federation rankings. The Miami Open is underway, and Alcaraz crashed out in the early rounds for the second consecutive time.

He suffered an opening-round exit last year, while this year, after defeating Joao Fonseca, he lost to Sebastian Korda in the third round. After the defeat, Alcaraz attended the Miami P1 padel event and was asked how he and Sinner would perform against Coello and Tapia.

Sinner and I against Coello and Tapia in padel? We would win without a doubt.

Sinner is still competing in Miami and easily defeated Frances Tiafoe 6-2, 6-2, after which he was asked by Steve Weissman on Tennis Channel about Alcaraz’s offer of joining forces for padel. Sinner joked that he lacks conviction in his padel skills.

If he says so, he needs to run and play for both [of us] because me and padel, I’m not great! But we all know what Carlos is capable of doing in every sport. He’s playing good golf, good padel, obviously an amazing tennis player… Skiing, I do for both [of us].

Because of Alcaraz’s early exit, Sinner has the golden opportunity to close the rankings gap between him and the Spaniard. Sinner will just need 1,190 points to dethrone the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion if he wins the Miami Open.

But at present, Sinner has 11,800 points in the live rankings, while Alcaraz has 13,590 points. He will have 12,400 points if he beats Alexander Zverev in the semifinals and later beats Jiri Lehecka or Arthur Fils in the final.

As per recent reports, Sinner will be competing in all three Masters 1000s on clay. Last year, apart from the Indian Wells and Miami events, he was forced to skip the Monte Carlo Masters and the Madrid Open due to his doping ban. In Rome, Sinner will be defending 650 points as he finished as the runner-up last year, losing in straight sets to Alcaraz and later losing that epic French Open final to the World No.1.

Juan Martin del Potro on whether men from South America can challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Juan Martin del Potro is the last man from the South American continent to win a Grand Slam title. He lifted the lone title at the 2009 US Open by defeating Roger Federer. Recently, he sat for an interview with La Nacion, and was asked if any men from his continent can challenge the Carlos Alcaraz–Jannik Sinner dominance.

Very few of us managed it in the era of the Big Three (Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal). And now, I think very few will be able to beat Sinner and Alcaraz. They’ve won the last nine Grand Slams and are clearly ahead of the rest. I hope a Latin American can do it. Many years have passed. There are good Argentine players, and there’s [Joao] Fonseca, who needs time and maturity. Before I beat Federer for the first time [in the 2009 US Open final], I lost to him six times. The same with Nadal and Djokovic. It’s a process.

Fonseca has now played both Sinner and Alcaraz and lost both times in straight sets. He lost to the 24-year-old in this year’s Indian Wells fourth round and later met Alcaraz in Miami.

Sinner emerged victorious in Indian Wells for the first time by defeating Daniil Medvedev, also winning his first title of the season. Alcaraz clinched the Australian Open and the Qatar Open.

Also read: Former World No.1 Criticizes Mirra Andreeva for failing to handle Pressure Following Recent Results

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