Jannik Sinner is once again set to reignite his famous rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz, having both reached the US Open final last night.
It almost seemed inevitable when the tournament began that these two would meet, given the trend set at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
They are by far the best two players in the men’s game, and it has shown through their domination of the Grand Slams. Sunday will see one of these two win an eighth consecutive major title. Nobody else comes close.
And yet, there have been questions about whether it gets boring to continually clash with the same person.
Jannik Sinner has now given his thoughts on this phenomenon.
Jannik Sinner disagrees with Roger Federer
Asked by one reporter, after beating Felix Auger-Aliassime last night, if he’s ‘getting sick’ of playing Carlos Alcaraz, the world number one admitted: “On court we like to see each other because considering our ranking that means we are doing well.
“Off court, we bump into each other at times. I don’t know if we are happy or not! But I think it’s great, we have a great relationship off the court, and everything is fine between him and me and also our teams.
“We are just working hard, but at the same time, we are also normal people, so it’s great. I am looking forward to it.”
He was then pointed in the direction of Roger Federer, who once said that he would rather face someone other than Rafael Nadal.
Quizzed on whether he agrees with the sentiment, Sinner continued: “Yes and no! If that is what Roger said, I feel like we all think the same way. But I love these challenges. I love to put myself in this position, and he is someone who pushed me to the limit, which is great, because then you have the best feedback that you can have as a player.
“We have faced each other quite a lot now lately, so things are getting a little bit different. Always when we step on court, we are aware of more things, because him or me, we try to prepare the match tactically in different ways.
“Sometimes it’s also nice not to play against him! But it’s great for the sport having rivalries and hopefully having great matches in front of us, and then we will see, but I’m someone who loves these challenges and I love to put myself in these positions and to see how it goes.”
Alcaraz has spoken about how it feels to have to play Sinner in the past, and this seems to be a sentiment they both share.
How many times has Jannik Sinner played Carlos Alcaraz?
Although they are only 22 and 24 respectively, their shared dominance has seen them meet time and time again despite how early they are in their careers.
Sunday’s US Open final will mark the 15th meeting between them, and a sixth consecutive one in a final of any description.
| Year | Event | Round | Winner |
| 2025 | Cincinnati Open | Final | Carlos Alcaraz |
| 2025 | Wimbledon | Final | Jannik Sinner |
| 2025 | French Open | Final | Carlos Alcaraz |
| 2025 | Italian Open | Final | Carlos Alcaraz |
| 2024 | Beijing Open | Final | Carlos Alcaraz |
They are, by some distance, the top two players in the world.
As such, the ease with which they both seem to cruise into the finals makes it almost a foregone conclusion before the tournaments have even begun.
Alcaraz currently leads their head-to-head, with nine wins to Sinner’s five.
