Clashing of Tennis Titans

Alex Easton, staff writer

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are both world renowned tennis superstars. These two are at the top of the tennis world right now, with Alcaraz bringing power, passion and the intensity of fire to Sinner’s calm and composed icy gameplay.  

In the past three major tournaments, these two have put up exciting games. reminiscent of the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Will the Alcaraz and Sinner rivalry feed discussion in the coming years like their predecessor? 

These two world-class tennis players have had a long journey to the top. Alcaraz was a highly touted prospect in the tennis world. At the age of 12 he was showing great promise in the sport, gaining praise from tennis legend Rafael Nadal. Alcaraz broke on to the tennis scene at the age of 16, when he won his first Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) match at the Rio Open of 2020.  

Contrary to Alcaraz, Sinner’s pathway to the top was troublesome. Sinner had very limited junior experience, never competing in any junior Grand Slams. At 19, Sinner achieved a major accomplishment by winning a debut ATP title at the Sofia Open in Bulgaria. This win resulted in a major rise in his ranking, as well as making him the youngest Italian champion on the tour in the open era. 

Alcaraz and Sinner’s first meeting was at the 2019 ATP Challenger Tour in Alicante. Where a 15-year-old Alcaraz won in straight sets, marking the beginning of a powerful rivalry to come. After this first encounter their rise to the top began. These two had many more matches after this where they traded wins and losses against each other. These matches were never considered a rivalry until they met in the quarter finals of the 2022 U.S. Open.  

This match is widely regarded as the beginning of their rivalry; the match was legendary, a five-hour long thriller that started on Sept. 7, 2022, and ended in the early hours of Sept 8. The five-set match went in favor of Alcaraz 

So far in the 15 times they have faced each other, Alcarez has been more dominant, winning 10 out of the 15 matches. The reason why Alcaraz has been so dominate over Sinner is due to being a great all-round player mixing strength, speed and exceptional prowess on the court. Due to this he draws comparisons to burning fire. 

Although Sinner has been less successful against Alcarez, his play style has allowed for him to make the matches very competitive, with most of their matches going into an extra set. Sinner’s playstyle is characterized by excellent footwork and powerful groundstrokes. He is also very potent not only for those great strengths but for his ability to stay calm and focused under great pressure, almost as if he has ice in his veins.  

Heddens quote Who has been more dominate Sinner or Alcarez and what part of this game makes them that dominate 

The most recent meeting between these two was in the final of the US Open. Alcarez took the win in three sets. This win at the US opened marked his sixth grand slam title, this achievement cements him in tennis history marking him as the fourth man in the century to win multiple US Open titles. With his win he joins the ranks of three tennis legends in Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Alcarez’s great achievements at such a young age are the start of a great legacy. 

Due to his overachievement Alcarez has left a shadow on Sinner’s achievements in the tennis scene. Sinner astounding achievements of 19 ATP titles at the age of 24 is still shadowed by Alcarezs 22 titles, but he is still within reach to climb atop of Alcarez. 

Sinner and Alcaraz’s Rivalry still have mountains to climb to reach the same heights of Federer and Nadal.  

“What Federer and Nadal built for the sport the eyes they brought, and the wars they had on the court.” said Blake Roderman a senior.  

Tennis gained a huge influx of new viewers due to Federer and Nadal. “At the moment Federer and Nadal rivalry is better than Alcaraz and Sinner, but this could change absolutely.  

Roderman acknowledges that the Alcarez and sinner Rivalry is still very young. There are still many years until Alcarez and Sinner reach the primes of their careers. Will the rivalry of Alcaraz and Sinner surpass the legendary rivalry of Nadal and Federer, or will they fall just short?