Carlos Alcaraz recently shared a glimpse of his time spent with Jannik Sinner at a Nike event in Shanghai. Additionally, American tennis legend Andre Agassi expressed his delight at seeing their camaraderie.
Sinner and Alcaraz are considered one of the fiercest competitors in the modern era. Their most recent meeting was in the China Open final, where Alcaraz emerged victorious. Sinner took the first set 7-6(6), but Alcaraz rallied to win the next two sets 6-4, 7-6(3), securing the ATP 500 title.
Despite their on-court rivalry, both players share a close bond off the court. They recently traveled together on a flight to Shanghai. Ahead of their Masters 1000 campaign in the Chinese city, Alcaraz and Sinner attended a Nike event and interacted with fans.
The Spaniard later shared pictures from the event on Instagram, detailing his experience in the captions.
"In Shanghai now! Great morning with @janniksin and the @nike family before my opener in the tournament on Saturday!"
The post later received a positive response from the eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi, who shared a clapping emoji in the comments.
Alcaraz and Sinner have faced each other 10 times on the Tour, with Alcaraz leading their head-to-head record 6-4.
"We have a good relationship, but we are not close friends": Carlos Alcaraz on his bond with Jannik Sinner
In his press conference before the Shanghai Masters, Carlos Alcaraz opened up on his relationship with Jannik Sinner, emphasizing mutual respect. However, the Spaniard noted that during tournaments, they tend to keep to their respective teams and don't interact much while traveling.
"We don't talk too much when we are around. We have a really good relationship off the court as well. I think we both respect each other a lot, as a player, as a person, but once we are on tour traveling, you know, during tournaments when we are on-site, we are with our team on our own, so we don't speak too much," Alcaraz said.
The 21-year-old added that they have a good relationship based on mutual respect, but clarified they are not close friends.
"We have a good relationship, but we are not close friends, you know, but I think the respect that we have, you know, put us in a position that we have a really good relationship," he added.
Alcaraz and Sinner will kick off their Shanghai Masters campaigns on Saturday, with the Spaniard facing Shang Juncheng and the Italian taking on Taro Daniel.