"Carlos Alcaraz is a kind of player who makes you raise the level" - When Jannik Sinner & Spaniard battled for over 5 hours and 5 sets at a Grand Slam

Jannik Sinner praised his arch-rival Carlos Alcaraz, stating that a player of the Spaniard's caliber motivates him to elevate his own performance. The Italian made the comments during the 2022 US Open.

Sinner was aiming to win his first Major in New York that year. The No. 11 seed defeated Daniel Altmaier, qualifier Christopher Eubanks, Brandon Nakashima, and Ilya Ivashka to reach the quarterfinals, where he faced off against eventual champion Alcaraz.

The duo had an epic five-hour and 15-minute match, each fighting hard to etch their names in history. However, the Spaniard eventually triumphed with a 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-7(0), 7-5, 6-3 score. The match started on Wednesday night and concluded early Thursday morning at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After his defeat, Jannik Sinner sat down for a conversation with the media and highlighted the positives of the battle. He mentioned that he had been physically prepared to play such a marathon.

"I feel good. I think we have improved a lot physically in the last month, so I was ready for a tough, tough battle. I feel physically for sure more ready to play these kind of matches for hours and hours. That's for sure the positive side," he said.

The Italian also credited his form to Carlos Alcaraz, saying that playing against such a strong opponent pushed him to "raise his level."

"Many positives I think in this week. The first week I didn't play my best tennis, for sure. But today I raised it because he's a kind of player who makes you raise the level. Yeah, that's it," Sinner said.

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Jannik Sinner after losing to Carlos Alcaraz in US Open 2022 QF: "I had some tough losses, this is in the top list"

Jannik Sinner (L) and Carlos Alcaraz pictured at the 2022 US Open

During the same press conference, Jannik Sinner elaborated more on his 2022 US Open quarterfinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz, stating that while he had faced many defeats, this one stood out as the toughest on his list.

"I had some tough losses, for sure," Sinner said. "This is in the top list. I think so. Concerning also the rest of the tournament, no, yeah, I think this one will hurt for quite a while."

The Italian added that, despite the heartbreak, he would shift his focus to extracting the positives from the experience and using them to evolve into a better version of himself:

"But tomorrow I wake up, or today I wake up, trying to somehow taking only the positives, trying to take away the other part."

Sinner and Alcaraz have faced each other eight times on the ATP Tour, with their head-to-head standing at an even 4-4. Their most recent encounter was at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters, where the Spaniard defeated the Italian 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the final and successfully defend his title.