Carlos Alcaraz: “I have to put in a lot of work if I want to catch up to Jannik Sinner because he’s currently the superior player.
Sinner had a spectacular start to the 2024 season by winning the Australian Open and earning his maiden Grand Slam title. After defeating Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the championship match.
On Sunday, February 18, the Italian won the Rotterdam Open, doubling his season total. In the title match at Rotterdam Ahoy, he triumphed over Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-4.
Carlos Alcaraz, on the other hand, hasn’t won a trophy since his victory at Wimbledon in 2023. The last time he stumbled was at the Argentina Open, where he lost to the reigning champion Nicolas Jarry in the semifinals.
In preparation for the ATP 500 tournament, the Spaniard met with Claudio Castro, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, before traveling to Brazil to compete in the Rio Open. In addition, he spoke with the media and responded to a few inquiries concerning his goals and detractors.
One of the queries that Alcaraz had was on the recent success of World No. 3 Jannik Sinner. The previous complimented the Italian, stating:
Jannik Sinner works very hard, so I’m not surprised. He’s currently better than me, so I have to put in a lot of work if I want to catch up to him.
Notably, in 2020, Alcaraz made his ATP debut in the Rio Open. In addition, he won his first tournament victory there by upsetting fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the opening round. Federico Coria, however, defeated him in the second round.
In 2022, the 20-year-old went back to Rio to claim his second career championship. He nearly won the Rio title again the previous year, but lost in the final against Cameron Norrie.
Head-to-head, Carlos Alcaraz is only slightly behind Jannik Sinner.
There have been seven on-court confrontations between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner thus far. In their head-to-head record, Sinner leads the Spaniard by a little margin, 4-3.
At the Paris Masters in 2021, the young players faced off against one another for the first time. In a Round-of-32 match, Alcaraz prevailed over Sinner 7-6(1), 7-5 to take the lead.
But their most recent encounter went better for Sinner. In the 2023 Beijing Open semifinals, he crushed Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-1, and then went on to win the championship by upsetting Daniil Medvedev in the summit match.
