Carlos Alcaraz has shared his aim of replicating Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s rivalry for the second time in five weeks. The 19-year-old is forming an exciting new matchup with fellow young star Jannik Sinner and believes they can emulate the early years of the Big Three.
Alcaraz and Sinner have started to form an exciting rivalry, facing off twice in the last six weeks and two more times overall across all levels of professional tennis. Both young men have been touted as the next big things in men’s tennis once the Big Three retire, and the Spaniard believes the duo could already be following in their footsteps.
“Of course Jannik and I, we have a good rivalry and of course he is going to [make] me better,” the world No 4 said. “I’m going to be a better player thanks to him. I’m going to push myself to be a better player to fight, to beat him and I think from me to him [it will be] the same.”
And the five-time title winner admitted that he thought himself and the 20-year-old would make each other become stronger in a similar way to Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. He continued: “I will push him to be a better player as Djokovic and Rafa and Federer did when they were younger.
“And of course it’s going to be a great rivalry and of course we are great friends outside the court.” Alcaraz’s comments come just weeks after the world No 12 beat him in both the Wimbledon fourth round and in the final at Umag, just their second and third meetings on the pro tour.
Before their first Grand Slam clash at the All England Club, the Spanish teenager had also shared his hopes that he and the Italian could form the next big rivalry in men’s tennis, when they had faced off just once before on the main tour.
“We are friends off the court so I would say on the grass we are gonna have a great rivalry in so many years,” he said after winning his third-round match.
Prior to their two meetings this year, Alcaraz had won their one tour-level match at last year’s Paris Masters. Before that, the young guns had faced off at the Alicante Challenger in 2019, with a then-unranked Alcaraz defeating a then-world No 319 Sinner 6-2 3-6 6-3.
