When Carlos Alcaraz was recently asked about his rivalry with Jannik Sinner, he summed it up with, “Right now Jannik and I are fighting for the No. 1 spot…and I think that makes a good rivalry.” Because that’s what the Big Three did, too. With the head-to-head currently favoring Alcaraz 9–5 overall in the 14 times they have met, people expect the SinCaraz “rivalry” to intensify. But does it when one draws a boundary?

After his dominant fourth-round win over Alexander Bublik at the US Open, Sinner was asked what people could learn from his rivalry with Alcaraz. Making a simple, honest confession, he said, “I think we have a good friendship off the court. We see that this is possible, you know. It’s not like you have to be enemies also off the court. Of course we are enemies when we step on the court. We try to play our best tennis but it ends there you know, after the handshake everything is fine again.”

The Italian emphasized that “One thing is to be a good tennis player, the other one is to be a good person. Two different things. I think we have both a little bit. So it’s good.” What elevates the rivalry narrative may just be that blend: hunger for their sport’s highest prizes blended with equally grounded sportsmanship. This year, their duels delivered on that promise. 

In the 2025 French Open final, one of the most dramatic matches in Slam history, Alcaraz came back from two sets down and saved three championship points to win 4–6, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6, 7–6 in a marathon 5 hours 29 minutes. Their rematch at Wimbledon saw Sinner return the favor, defeating Alcaraz in four sets to claim the title. Alcaraz says, “We just fight to engage more people to watch.” Because, well, yes, when SinCaraz is on screen, records do get broken. 

Alcaraz vs Sinner Rivalry Breaks Tennis Viewership Records

The 2025 Roland Garros final averaged 5.5 million viewers in France, peaking at 9.5 million on France 3, making it the most-watched men’s match at the tournament in 14 years. Just weeks later, their Wimbledon showdown smashed records on Sky Italia, drawing an average of 5.67 million viewers and peaking at 7.61 million at match point– the broadcaster’s best-ever Wimbledon figures and the fifth-highest tennis audience in Italian TV history. It does make one wonder if one is the result of the other, or is it just Tennis beyond the rivalry narratives. Because their games do live on opposite poles of the same spectrum. 

Alcaraz plays with a kind of restless energy that’s hard to look away from. He charges around the court, chasing balls that seem unreachable, and turns defense into attack with sudden drop shots or sharply angled winners. His style is impulsive, playful, and full of surprises: he takes risks that can leave opponents exposed but sometimes leave him scrambling too. While that kind of unpredictability brings some excitement, Sinner, by contrast, brings all control and precision.  

Each swing feels deliberate, each step orchestrated to generate maximum power with minimal waste. He rarely gives away points unnecessarily, and even in tense moments, his game is steady and composed.  Although not for the first time, that contrast was alive this summer, too: at Roland Garros, Alcaraz’s variety wore Sinner down in five sets, but at Wimbledon, Sinner flipped the script by staying aggressive, winning 30 of 40 net points and out-hitting Alcaraz with 40 winners. 

Yet, it’s too early to be choosing sides in the Alcaraz-Sinner storyline. But again, it’s as Sinner says, their rivalry (if you want to call it that) has evolved over the past three years. While he did say, “You don’t know what’s happening,” he also explained how he approaches their matches. If you’re expecting tough-love-fueled pep talks to face his “enemy” on the court– don’t. 

“I feel like when we were very, very young, it was like a kind of match where you just go on court and just hit. Now I feel like we have to prepare tactically, we have to prepare it also emotionally and mentally…In the past three years, we faced each other many times, and every match we play is different, if we watch the tactical side. So we make adjustments,” concluded Sinner.

Their next clash can take place at the 2025 US Open final. Alcaraz will await the winner of Djokovic-Fritz, whilst Sinner must beat Musetti and Augier-Aliassime/de Minaur for this to happen. At the time of writing, the match hadn’t started. But, for all the latest, real-time updates from the Flushing Meadows, do follow our live US Open blog.