Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz just played one of the best matches of 2024 in the Beijing final, and the pair of rivals could meet again in Shanghai, where they are slated to meet in the semifinals if the seeds hold.
Sinner says that’s just fine with him, and admits that he is always thinking about what he can do better to defeat his rival, the man who has toppled him in each of the three times they’ve met in 2024.
“It’s nice that we are rivals on the court and then friends off the court,” Sinner told ATP Media. “I feel like — at least talking from my side — he pushes me to do better. I wake up in the morning trying to understand what I can do better, trying to beat him next time, which is something nice for me as a player.”
“I feel like off the court we are quite similar because we are surround ourself with our close ones, we like to stay with the team. There are many similar things.”
Sinner will face Taro Daniel in his first match at Shanghai on Saturday. Alcaraz will face rising Chinese Shang Juncheng in the eighth Masters 1000 event of 2024.
On the court Sinner acknowledges the difference between the two stars, and adds that he can learn from watching the way that Alcaraz goes about his business.
“On the court, we are different,” Sinner said. “He is the one who brings the firepower, the hot shots, he involves the crowd. He’s a bit different. I am more like the solid player, quite calm, so it’s like fire and ice a bit, but it’s a nice combination.
“It also shows that everyone is different. I believe that I have to take something from him as a player, trying some different shots sometimes, which I feel like makes me grow as a player, but this takes time – we are just trying to do ourselves, to be ourselves on the court.”
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