Roger Federer Cherishes the ‘Great’ Rivalry of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner: “I Just Hope They Stay Injury-Free”

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between them and faced each other in the finals of the last three Grand Slams.

Roger Federer Cherishes the ‘Great’ Rivalry of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner: “I Just Hope They Stay Injury-Free”

Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Brian, Jannik Sinner HQ)

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic redefined the sport with their legendary rivalries and records. The post-Big Three era is all about the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The duo have shared the last eight Grand Slam titles between them and met in the finals of the last three Grand Slams.

Federer, who returned to the 2026 Australian Open to headline in its inaugural opening ceremony, spoke about the greatness of the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry during his press conference. The 20-time Grand Slam champion reflected on the iconic 2025 Roland Garros final, where Alcaraz came back from two sets down and saved three championship points to defeat Sinner and defend his title:

The rivalry with Alcaraz and Sinner is a great one. They play incredible tennis. I think that French Open final was unreal. I think the game, not that it needed it, but it was great that we had it. Then they backed it up by playing against each other in all those other finals. Everybody is trying to keep up and they’re trying to pull away.

Last year’s Roland Garros final marked the first meeting between Alcaraz and Sinner in a Grand Slam final. It was the longest final in the history of the tournament and the second-longest Grand Slam final in the history of the sport. Federer further added:

What we’ve seen in terms of their progression in the last years, it’s been wonderful. I practiced with those guys a little bit. They’re incredible ball strikers. There’s obviously more to come. I just hope they stay injury-free.

Federer will feature in the inaugural opening ceremony of the Australian Open on Saturday, alongside Pat Rafter, Andre Agassi, and Lleyton Hewitt in an exhibition doubles match.

Roger Federer is rooting for Carlos Alcaraz to win the Australian Open

Carlos Alcaraz has won every Grand Slam twice except for the Australian Open. He is yet to progress beyond the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Should the 22-year-old do so, he would become the youngest man in the Open Era to complete the career Grand Slam.

Currently, this distinction belongs to Rafael Nadal, who completed not just the Career Grand Slam but also the Career Golden Slam at the age of 24 years, 3 months, and 10 days old. At the Australian Open press conference, Roger Federer also spoke about why he is rooting for Alcaraz to win the tournament:

At his young age, completing the career Grand Slam would be crazy. Let’s see if he is able to do crazy this week. I hope he does because for the game it would be unbelievably special moment.

Roger Federer 2009 Roland Garros
Roger Federer winning the 2009 Roland Garros (image via Rolex)

Federer completed his Career Grand Slam after clinching the 2009 Roland Garros- his career’s only title on the clay-court Major. Alcaraz’s biggest challenge to achieving this feat is his archrival Jannik Sinner. The World No. 2 will be aiming for his fifth Grand Slam title and an elusive three-peat at the Australian Open, a feat that has only been accomplished by Novak Djokovic. It will be interesting to see if Alcaraz can deny Sinner this three-peat the way Sinner denied him a three-peat at Wimbledon last year.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s rivalry

Carlos Alcaraz leads the head-to-head record 10-6 against Jannik Sinner. Sinner won their last meeting in straight sets at the 2025 ATP Finals. Sinner and Alcaraz have met 10 times on hard court, with Alcaraz winning seven of those meetings.

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

If Sinner and Alcaraz reach the final of the Australian Open, they will be only the second pair to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals. The first pair to do so were Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, who achieved this streak from the 2011 Wimbledon Championships to the 2012 Roland Garros.

Also Read: Roger Federer Uses Grigor Dimitrov’s Style to Picture His Match With Jannik Sinner