Jannik Sinner Expects Fellow Players to Catch him and Carlos Alcaraz Soon on the ATP Tour

Jannik Sinner will take on Vit Kopriva in the first round of the US Open, while Carlos Alcaraz faces Reilly Opelka.

Jannik Sinner Expects Fellow Players to Catch him and Carlos Alcaraz Soon on the ATP Tour

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

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Jannik Sinner has admitted that he expects other ATP players to catch up with the level he and Carlos Alcaraz have displayed for the past two seasons. The duo has dominated the men’s circuit in recent years, winning all the past seven Grand Slams and facing each other in the past two major finals.

This season, the rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz got to a whole new level when they met at the French Open final. Alcaraz produced a masterclass comeback victory against the Italian star despite losing the first two sets of the encounter. Sinner then earned his revenge against the 22-year-old in Wimbledon, winning in four sets.

They faced each other again at the Cincinnati Open, but that ended anticlimactically after Sinner retired just 23 minutes into the match due to illness. They are the pole favorites to win the US Open singles title, despite the expectations that the likes of Novak Djokovic, Ben Shelton, and Alexander Zverev will challenge them.

Shelton is entering the tournament on the back of the Canadian Open triumph. The American star claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto after beating Karen Khachanov in the final. Meanwhile, Zverev is still chasing his first Grand Slam title and has been to the final of major tournaments three times.

Djokovic also poses a threat to Sinner and Alcaraz but has failed to challenge them since the start of the season. Sinner revealed during his press conference that players will obviously improve with time and catch up with the level he and Alcaraz are operating in:

If we don’t continue to improve, players will catch us, It’s just a question of time. So, what I am trying to do is to understand where I can work on. Then we have certain areas of the game certainly where we can work on. From my point of view, that’s positive. It only makes me a better tennis player and in the future.

Sinner will take on Vit Kopriva in the first round of the US Open, while Alcaraz faces Reilly Opelka on Sunday (August 24). The duo is projected to meet in the final of the tournament, with Sinner as the defending champion. However, Alcaraz holds a 9-5 lead in their head-to-head record and has won six of their last seven meetings.

Jannik Sinner says he’s physically good after Cincinnati Open final retirement

Jannik Sinner is back on the court at the US Open days after retiring from his clash against Carlos Alcaraz in the Cincinnati Open final. The World No.1 withdrew from the revamped mixed doubles event at the Open due to illness, leaving his partner Katerina Siniakova to be thrown out of the tournament.

Jannik Sinner (via X/Jannik Sinner Times)
Jannik Sinner (via X/Jannik Sinner Times)

His focus his now turned to defending the US Open title, which has never been done for the past seventeen years. The last player to defend the title at Flushing Meadows was Roger Federer, when he won it for five consecutive years (2004-2008). Sinner revealed during the aforementioned press conference that he’s happy to be back on the court after the unfortunate illness:

I’m firstly very happy to be back here. It’s a great tournament. It’s obviously the last Grand Slam we have for this season, so the motivations are very high. Physically I feel good. I have recovered mostly, not 100% yet, but we are aiming to be there in couple of days. So should be all fine for the tournament.

Sinner has stayed for 63 uninterrupted weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, but if his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz does better, he will drop to World No.2. The 24-year-old will defend 2,000 points, while Alcaraz only got 50 points from last year’s US Open.

Also Read: (Video) Carlos Alcaraz Clashes with a Fan for Bringing Cameras During his Practice at the US Open