Regarding who is the best player on the ATP Tour, Carlos Alcaraz has no problem naming one of his rivals.
The Spanish four-time Grand Slam champion believes Italy’s Jannik Sinner is currently the ‘best’ in the world. Sinner recently defended his title at the Australian Open and has won eight other trophies since the start of 2024. Last season he won 73 out of 79 matches played on the Tour.
However, Alcaraz has proven to be a tough opponent for Sinner and he currently leads their head-to-head 6-4, winning all three of their most recent meetings.
“Jannik is the best right now,“ the AFP news agency quoted Alcaraz as saying on Sunday.
“He has lost only four or five matches in the past year, so it’s crazy. I know people say who’s better out of us. They say Jannik is better or some say me. It’s all discussion.
“But for me, I think for a tennis player, we have to face Jannik and he’s winning everything. He’s focused every time, so I think he’s the best. Every tournament he plays, he makes the final or lifts the trophy.”
Alcaraz will return to action this week at the Rotterdam Open in what will be his tournament debut. He is the top seed in the draw ahead of Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur. The 21-year-old has won 16 ATP events so far in his career but only five of those were on a hardcourt.
He will be seeking to bounce back from his straight-sets quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
“I don’t feel that it was a missed opportunity against Novak,“ he said of that match.
“I really wanted to win the tournament and felt I was able to, but Novak played an unbelievable match. Facing Novak in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam is the worst thing.
“It was a pretty good match. I’ve tried to take the good things about that match and will look ahead now.”
The next test for Alcaraz will be a showdown against Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening match in Rotterdam. Zandschulp scored a shock win over the world No.3 in their previous meeting at the US Open last year.
