Carlos Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner: How the standout stars of men's tennis match up
The pair have shared the last six men's singles grand slam titles equally and here, the PA news agency looks at how they compare.
Since the start of last season, only two different names have been engraved on men's singles grand slam trophies. Alcaraz and Sinner also both went into Sunday's meeting unbeaten in grand slam finals.
Sinner won last season's two hard court slams at the Australian and US Opens, with Alcaraz victorious on the Paris clay and the Wimbledon lawns – and the pattern has so far repeated in 2025, with Sinner winning in Melbourne before Alcaraz's success on Sunday.
Alcaraz now has five slams overall to his rival's three, having also won the 2022 US Open followed by Wimbledon in 2023. He won his fifth major aged 22 years, one month and three days, exactly the same as his idol Rafael Nadal.
Still taking in that incredible men's final at Roland Garros. So happy for @carlosalcaraz – five Grand Slams at just 22! My heart goes out to Jannik Sinner, who showed real class in defeat. What a match, thank you both. Tennis is in great hands.🚀
— Rod Laver (@rodlaver) June 8, 2025
The elder Spaniard's fifth win came at Wimbledon in 2008 and the nature of the calendar means Alcaraz is narrowly the third youngest player to win five slams, aged 22 years and 34 days – one day older than Nadal. Bjorn Borg was just five days past his 22nd birthday when he won his fifth at the 1978 French Open.
Alcaraz needs just the Australian Open to complete a career slam. Should he achieve that feat in 2026 or 2027 he will displace Nadal as the youngest man to do so.
Sinner is halfway to a career slam of his own and unlike Alcaraz he has also won the ATP Finals, at the end of last season.
'For the sport it's something amazing to have these players, this kind of rivalry they have,' said Alcaraz's coach, former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, after Sunday's final.
'Having these two guys fighting for big trophies, I think we have to be very happy about it in the sport of tennis. They know they have to play unbelievable tennis to beat the other guy.'
Ferrero seemingly has his protege ready for the fight. Alcaraz, who said 'real champions are made in those situations', has the better of the head-to-head record to date, winning eight matches to four, including all five meetings since the start of 2024.
He has come from behind in four of those five, the only exception being this year's Rome Masters final. Sinner led by a set in their 2024 Indian Wells semi-final, the final of the ATP 500 event in Beijing and on two occasions in last year's Roland Garros semi-final, and was two sets up before Alcaraz won Sunday's classic 4-6 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-6 (3) 7-6 (2).
Alcaraz leads 3-1 in tournament finals between the pair, Sinner's one success coming in an ATP 250 event in Umag, Croatia in 2022.
Alcaraz's win in Paris broke the tie in career titles – giving him a 20th to Sinner's 19 – and boosted his lead over the Italian in career prize money. Alcaraz has won 44,732,623 US dollars (£33m at current exchange rates) to Sinner's USD41,518,168 (£30.6m).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
French Open ratings soar in TNT's first year
June 10 - Coco Gauff's French Open victory over Aryna Sabalenka was the most-watched women's final at Roland Garros since 2016. Overall, ratings for the full tournament were up 25 percent in its first year on TNT and TruTV over the 2024 marks on NBC and Tennis Channel. American star Gauff's three-set victory over Sabalenka of Belarus averaged 1.47 million viewers, up 94 percent than the previous year (756,000) when Poland's Iga Swiatek defeated Italy's Jasmine Paolini. Serena Williams defeated Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the 2016 finals when an average of 1.5 millions tuned in. On the men's side, Carlos Alcaraz's marathon five-set victory over Italy's Jannik Sinner drew 1.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched men's final since Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2021 finals (1.9 million). Alcaraz of Spain needed five hours and 29 minutes to outduel Sinner in a drama-filled match. This was the first season of TNT's 10-year, $650 million deal to televise the French Open. --Field Level Media
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Well-rested Scheffler does Oakmont homework ahead of U.S. Open test
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania, June 10 (Reuters) - Scottie Scheffler may not have been as prepared as he could have been for last year's U.S. Open, but on Tuesday the tournament favourite at Oakmont Country Club said he was well-rested and had done his homework ahead of golf's toughest test. Scheffler arrived at the 2024 U.S. Open fresh off a win at the Memorial Tournament and made the cut at Pinehurst without a shot to spare. He later admitted he did not feel he was properly prepared for that year's third major. So this year world number one Scheffler took a different approach. He still played and won the Memorial, which was moved back to its traditional spot on the calendar, and then sat out last week's Canadian Open to focus on the U.S. Open. "Having the week off was really important for me to get home, get some rest, recover, and I showed up here on Sunday and was able to play maybe 11 holes and really get used to the conditions," said Scheffler. "It feels much more like my normal major prep versus last year where you're coming in from basically a major championship test, coming into another one is pretty challenging." Since the calendar turned to May, Scheffler has matched the PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record with a 31-under total at TPC Craig Ranch, won the PGA Championship by five strokes, finished fourth at Colonial and won at Muirfield Village by four strokes. The challenge ahead for Scheffler, whose three wins so far in 2025 came during his last four starts, will be passing the daunting test that Oakmont Country Club presents given its narrow fairways and penal rough. "This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play, maybe ever, and that's pretty much all it is. It's just a different type of test," said Scheffler. Given his form Scheffler is naturally a heavy favourite and will have plenty of support as he makes his way around Oakmont, perhaps especially from those who have placed wagers on him. Scheffler said he hears plenty from those who bet on golf and that was why he deleted his account on peer-to-peer payment service Venmo as some people would send him part of their winnings or demand he cover their losses. "I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn't win," said Scheffler. "It wasn't a good feeling." "I don't remember the most that somebody would send me. Maybe a couple bucks here or there. That didn't happen nearly as much as the requests did," Scheffler added. A win this week for Scheffler would put him alongside Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth as the only active players with three legs of the career Grand Slam of golf's four majors.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Andreescu and Alexandrova off to winning start as rain stops play in 's-Hertogenbosch
June 10 (Reuters) - Bianca Andreescu and second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova both kicked off their grasscourt campaigns with solid first-round wins at the Libema Open in Den Bosch, as rain caused significant delays throughout Tuesday's second day of play. Andreescu eased past Taiwan's Joanna Garland 6-1 6-3 as the 24-year-old Canadian put on a strong performance without facing a single break point and secured victory in 74 minutes. The former U.S. Open champion, who missed out on qualifying for Roland Garros, will next face New Zealand's Lulu Sun. Alexandrova advanced to the second round with a composed 6-3 6-4 win over Georgia's Mariam Bolkvadze, despite a lengthy rain delay disrupting the first set. The Russian returned from the interruption unfazed, taking control from the baseline and racing to a 5-2 lead in the second set. After being broken while serving for the match and facing another break point in her next service game, Alexandrova regained her composure to close out the win and set up an all-Russian second-round showdown with Anna Blinkova. The match between defending champion Liudmila Samsonova and Canada's qualifier Carson Branstine was tied at one set apiece before the game was suspended due to darkness. Branstine had stunned top seed Samsonova by taking the first set 6-4 before the Russian levelled the match by winning the second 7-5. Play will resume on Wednesday. In the men's draw, American Reilly Opelka also overcame several rain delays to see off local favourite Jesper de Jong with a hard-fought 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-2 victory. Several matches had to be postponed to Wednesday due to rain, including Polish fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, Briton Daniel Evans against Australia's Rinky Hijikata, and Greece's Maria Sakkari taking on Dutch wildcard Anouk Koevermans.
