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Two-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz recently conceded that Jannik Sinner is the better player at the moment.
Sinner started the 2024 season with a bang as he won the Australian Open to lift a Grand Slam trophy for the first time. He went past Daniil Medvedev in the final after downing Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
The Italian doubled his tally for the season by winning the Rotterdam Open on Sunday, February 18. He defeated Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-4 in the decider at Rotterdam Ahoy.
On the other hand, Carlos Alcaraz has failed to lay hands on any trophies since his Wimbledon triumph in 2023. He most recently faltered at the Argentina Open, losing in the semifinals to Nicolas Jarry as the defending champion.
The Spaniard has set foot in Brazil to compete at the Rio Open and even met with Rio de Janeiro's governor Claudio Castro ahead of the ATP 500 event. He also interacted with the media and answered a few questions about his plans and opponents.
One of the questions Alcaraz faced was concerned with World No. 3 Jannik Sinner's success of late. The former praised the Italian, saying:
"I'm not surprised because he's [Jannik Sinner is] a hard worker. If I want to match his level, I have to work hard because right now he's the one who's better. It's good for tennis that there's another young player like him who wins Grand Slams." (via Marca; translated)
Notably, Alcaraz made his ATP debut at the Rio Open itself in the year 2020. Moreover, he earned his debut win at the same event as he defeated fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the opening round. He, however, lost in the second round to Federico Coria.
The 20-year-old returned to Rio in 2022 to win the second title of his career. He came close to defending his Rio title last year but fell short against Cameron Norrie in the decider.
Carlos Alcaraz marginally trails Jannik Sinner in head-to-head
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have locked horns on the court seven times thus far. Sinner maintains a slim lead of 4-3 over the Spaniard in terms of their head-to-head record.
The youngsters played against each other for the first time in the year 2021 at the Paris Masters. Alcaraz drew first blood by overcoming Sinner 7-6(1), 7-5 in a Round-of-32 encounter.
Their most recent meeting, however, went Sinner's way. He thumped Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4), 6-1 in the semifinals of the 2023 Beijing Open and went on to lift the trophy by defeating Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash.
