Paris: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the two best male tennis players in the world, both born in the 2000s, have been shaping for a rivalry that pits great contrasts -- styles, mentalities and personalities -- across the net.
The 23-year-old Italian’s steel versus the 22-year-old Spaniard’s staggering range, the world No.1’s sangfroid versus Alcaraz’s sense of adventure. The calm and storm of the sport, are the top-two seeds of the French Open, starting Sunday. They are the youngest top two seeds at a major since the 2006 US Open, when a 25-year-old Roger Federer and a 20-year-old Rafael Nadal bookended the men’s draw.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On a windy Friday at Roland Garros, where the highs hovered around the late teens on the centigrade scale, Sinner and Alcaraz’ paths crossed on Court Philippe Chatrier where they both had practice sessions scheduled in the afternoon. The 22-year-old Spaniard was winding up when Sinner walked in behind his coach Aussie Darren Cahill. The top-seed went over to Alcaraz’ side and waited for him, who owns a Tour-leading 30 match wins in 2025, to finish an exchange, before throwing an arm around him.
The rivalry, which kickstarted in the November of 2021with the world still reeling from the effects of Covid-19, seemed to have it all. Shades of Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer all over again, they were friendly but their matches were fierce, they were different yet united by a passion, but there may be more. A pair of personable young men, leaders of their sport, might be caught in a crossfire of the unspoken word.
Alcaraz, who won the pairs’ last meeting in the final at Rome last weekend, bringing to an end Sinner’s 26-match win streak, leads the head-to-head 7-4, while tying with the world No.1 at 19 titles apiece.
Sinner, who returned to competition after serving a three-month ban for returning positive tests for Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, held forth on the three months, saying that there had been players in the time, who he didn’t expect had reached out to him, while there were others, who he was expecting to hear from, who hadn’t reached out.
Alcaraz was asked if he thought Sinner was referring to him.
“I didn't call him in those three months, but it wasn't about if I agreed or not (with the ban),’ Alcaraz said. ‘I was playing, I was in my feelings.’
Quiz:
Who's that IPL player?The telephone call that wasn’t made aside, Sinner and Alcaraz agree they bring more to the court when they face each other.
“When we play there is a little extra attention,” said Sinner. “While he is winning I feel that my practice sessions are getting more intense.”
“I'm even more focused when I play against him,” the gifted four-time major winner said. “I feel a little bit different when I'm going to face him. Jannik has that aura. When you see him at the other side of the net, it's kind of different. I feel like it is a different energy when we face each other than when we face other players.”
If the rivalry were to be renewed at Roland Garros, Sinner must survive a thorny path. The world No.1 opens against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and could play the 14
th-seeded Frenchman Arthur Fils or Andrey Rublev in the fourth round, Jack Draper or Alex de Minaur in the last eight and maybe Alexander Zverev or the 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic in the semis.
Alcaraz starts against veteran Japanese Kei Nishikori and could run into giant Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the third round, and Ben Shelton or Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth-round, possibly Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals and maybe Taylor Fritz, Lorenzo Musetti or Holger Rune in the semi-finals.
The road to the final is long and the weather promises to be whimsical, but fans in the French capital will hope the final will be a rematch of last year’s semi-final, which the Spaniard won.
“It’s great to have matchups that make (fans) excited. It was Borg-McEnroe, Rafa-Roger or Djokovic, the big three against each other,” the defending champion said of rivalries. “Right now people are excited every time I'm facing Jannik. Our matches are really high quality. People probably who don't like watching tennis, started to watch tennis (because of these matches).”
For now, Roland Garros would like another, a 12
th career meeting of the two best Generation Z players, who are looking to make history.
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