‘A gift to our sport’ – Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry takes tennis ‘to next level’

The first person Jannik Sinner thanked in his speech after winning Wimbledon was Carlos Alcaraz.

Speaking after the latest instalment of their captivating rivalry, Sinner said: “Carlos, thank you for the player you are.

“It is so difficult to play you but we have a great relationship off the court.

“Keep going, keep pushing, you are going to hold this trophy many times – you already have twice!”

A packed Centre Court crowd were almost willing Alcaraz to find a way to force a deciding fifth set and keep an absorbing contest going.

But world number one Sinner powered to the finish line to end Alcaraz’s title defence.

Sinner is the first player to beat Alcaraz in a Grand Slam final. Alcaraz was the first to beat Sinner.

The pair have now won the past seven Grand Slam titles, with Sinner taking four.

They met for the first time in a major final at last month’s French Open, with Alcaraz recovering from two sets and three championship points down to win an epic, before Sinner took this year’s Wimbledon title.

There is little that separates the two in terms of the numbers.

Sinner has won 20 titles to Alcaraz’s 21. The Spaniard also has the edge in Grand Slams, with five to Sinner’s four.

Alcaraz still leads the head-to-head 8-5 – but Sinner has now snapped a five-match losing streak against the world number two. The Italian has also halted Alcaraz’s winning run at 24 matches.

The pair also have consistently high-quality matches. Only four of their 13 matches have been straight-set wins, and three of their five major meetings have gone the distance.

Alcaraz has won all three of their five-set encounters. The first came at the 2022 US Open, an epic quarter-final that lasted five hours and 15 minutes and finished at almost 3am.

Sinner is the less expressive of the pair on court, although he was noticeably fired up throughout the Wimbledon final, with shouts of “let’s go!” and the occasional sharp word to his box.

In terms of playing style, he has the Novak Djokovic-esque movement in and out of the corners, ankles snapping worryingly close to the ground as he slides to chase down a shot.

He used his huge serve and forehand to great effect against Alcaraz – but Sinner says he can still learn plenty from his opponent.

“I keep looking up to Carlos because even today I felt like he was doing a couple of things better than I did,” Sinner said.

Alcaraz is the showman of the rivalry. At times a walking highlight reel who smiles even when the point goes against him, he was mobbed by fans on his way to a practice session before the final.

His serve was not at its best on Sunday – in part because Sinner did not allow it to be – but his shot-making ability is what makes him so watchable.

Alcaraz has often spoken about how the rivalry with Sinner pushes him to be better.

“I think it’s great for us and for tennis. Every time we play against each other, I think our level is really high,” he said.

With the ‘Big Three’ era having ended, and Djokovic the last man standing from the golden age of men’s tennis, fans are looking for another rivalry to latch on to.

Sinner and Alcaraz are the first to say their budding rivalry has some way to go before it reaches the heights of those before them – but it has all the hallmarks of another era-defining competitiveness.

“We have just come out of one of the most incredible eras and suddenly these two guys are stepping up,” Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I always say Andre Agassi saved men’s tennis when he came back and these guys are saving men’s tennis now.”

Former world number one John McEnroe said the pair reminded him of his own battles with Bjorn Borg – the ‘Fire and Ice’ rivalry that ended tied 7-7 – and that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

“That’s what makes it great. The way they behave out there is completely different but both are equally effective,” McEnroe said on BBC TV.

Former Wimbledon doubles champion Todd Woodbridge agreed, adding: “They have the best parts of those players’ games, and they have taken it to the next level.”

But Rod Laver, a four-time Wimbledon champion, perhaps summed it up best.

“Their growing rivalry is a gift to our sport, and it’s matched by the genuine respect they show for each other,” he wrote.