Carlos Alcaraz's hunt for Jannik Sinner is underway

NEW YORK—Carlos Alcaraz was the only thing that kept Jannik Sinner from utterly dominating the ATP Tour in 2024. The Spaniard not only holds the Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles, but a 3-0 record over the world No. 1 from Italy this past season. So it seemed a little peculiar when, in a roundtable interview before Wednesday’s Garden Cup exhibition in New York City, a reporter asked Alcaraz if he ever “jokes about” that detail with his rival.

Alcaraz processed the question, then denied that he did any such thing. But after a beat he added, “[But] I joke with my friends.” Laughing along with everyone else, Alcaraz added, “I can't lie.”

It was an amusing moment that enlivened an atmosphere free of the caution, stress or distraction that often turns post-match press conferences into turgid affairs. Alcaraz was nothing less than charming: engaged and animated, comfortably ensconced in a lush, logo-less, cream-colored hoodie.

I think those matches help a lot for the tennis industry to, you know, catch more people towards tennis. Carlos Alcaraz, on his matches with rival Jannik Sinner

Three weeks earlier, Alcaraz ended his 2024 campaign on a bittersweet note. Winning his lone singles match at the Davis Cup Finals was not enough to keep Spain from faltering in the quarterfinal—he would lose the winner-take-all doubles match with Marcel Granollers to the Netherlands, which also ended Rafael Nadal’s career. When Alcaraz returned home from Malaga, he said on Tuesday, “I had one week and a half I didn’t touch a tennis racquet. Just throw it, you know, in my room.”

The 21-year-old from Murcia spent a little time with his family, then went on a boys trip with his pals to the Caribbean resort town of Punta Cana. Now he’s ready to return to the business at hand, which begins in earnest for 2025 at the Australian Open.

The rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz, who has already been ranked No. 1 but is currently treading water at No. 3, will be jump-started at the year’s first Grand Slam. Sinner is the defending champion Down Under, but Alcaraz knows how to cut him down to size. The way all of this plays over time will likely be the most compelling ATP storyline of 2025.

Alcaraz vs. Sinner may not feature the same glaring contrasts as some of the sport’s titanic rivalries, including Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal. But Sinner’s borderline Spartan, uber-efficient game features a sensibility very different from the improvisational, borderline exuberant approach of Alcaraz. There have been very few great players who will sometimes choose the beautiful shot over the smart one. Sinner is not one of them, but Alcaraz is.

“Alcaraz will throw in a couple more bad decisions than Sinner will,” super-coach and Tennis Channel analyst Paul Annacone told me recently. “Sinner is always going to be less flashy and flamboyant than Alcaraz, more buttoned up. But because of the flash and the flamboyance and the versatility, I think Alcaraz’s ceiling is a little bit higher. But we’re talking fractions here, so it hardly matters.”

Sinner’s last win over Alcaraz was in the Beijing semifinals in the fall of 2023. But don’t make any assumptions about Alcaraz losing sight of his rival in the rear-view mirror. Sinner just put together a season for the ages—one of the best ever. Alcaraz acknowledges it, but he can mine hope from the history of their rivalry, which Carlitos leads, 6-4.

“It feels like, ‘Okay, our matches are a little bit different, probably than others.’” Alcaraz said. “The matches we played during our careers have been special, pretty close, intense ones—five sets, three sets. I think those matches help a lot for the tennis industry to, you know, catch more people towards tennis.”

Consider a lot of people caught.

Girding for the upcoming season, Alcaraz has added another coach, Samuel Lopez. Lopez, a staple in the Spanish tennis establishment, was the mentor to Alcaraz’s primary coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. It’s a tight knit group held intact by Ferrero’s coaching style, which has always given Alcaraz plenty of leeway and room to grow.

“You know, they’re listening to me much more than before,” Alcaraz said. “When I was 16 years old, I had nothing to say. I was just mouth closed and ears open, Right now, you know, I’m doing more things by myself.”

Anyone who can compile a 3-0 record against a player who was in the midst of a season for the ages is clearly pretty good at doing things by himself.