Carlos Alcaraz ‘still a better player’, says Jannik Sinner as Italian cools rivalry talk ahead of China Open
Jannik Sinner says it is “tough to talk” about a rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz, after admitting that the Spaniard is at present “still a better player”.
Sinner is in Beijing for this week’s China Open, where he will go in search of a third title of the calendar year.
To do that, he will potentially have to beat Alcaraz, with the pair carded to meet at the semi-final stage.
Should that play out, Sinner may be confident of success, given he is one of only a handful of players to defeat the two-time Grand Slam champion in 2023, landing a three-set victory en route to the Miami Open final earlier this year.
That means their head-to-head record is level at three wins apiece, but Sinner has confessed he feels he is still an inferior player to his Spanish counterpart.
“At the moment, it’s tough to talk about this rivalry, because he’s won so many things,” the Italian said in his pre-tournament press conference.
“I think, at the moment, he’s still a better player.
“He has shown this. He was No. 1 in the world already a couple of times.
“I think we both show the best out of ourselves.”
Highlights: Sinner shocks Alcaraz in Miami semis, ends Spaniard’s No. 1 reign
A stacked field will be on show in Beijing, where six of the game’s top seven ranked players are in action.
Sinner has a tough first-round match against Britain’s Dan Evans, before that potential last-four clash with Alcaraz.
“I would be happy to be the rival of Carlos, for sure,” Sinner continued. “I feel like I have the potential to do that.
“I have to improve physically because I feel like I have a lot of potential physically.
“That’s also the reason why I [have] played less tournaments this year than last year, because I have to prepare the body to win the big tournaments.
“It’s going to be a question that will be answered in the future. But, let’s see. It’s all about the future. We can’t say what’s happening.”
Britain’s Andy Murray is also in action in Beijing, facing Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the first round, while Cameron Norrie has been paired with fifth seed Andrey Rublev.
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