Carlos Alcaraz finishing second-best to Jannik Sinner in 2024 'surprises' John Isner

Many expected Carlos Alcaraz to have the type of year Jannik Sinner ended up having in 2024. While the former was the only player that bested the latter at least twice over the course of the year, one of which was a hugely important win at Roland Garros en route to the trophy, the Italian surprised many with how well he played.

Former player John Isner is one of those people as he was stunned by how well Sinner played in 2024, even though he was fully aware that he was capable of it. For Isner, it mostly comes down to how much he's a fan of Alcaraz because for him, the Spaniard was supposed to have that type of year. That was the expectation.

"That surprised me a little bit. I had Carlos Alcaraz. For me going into the year, pencilled in as the number 1 player," John Isner said on the Nothing Major Podcast. (4:00)

The bottom line for Isner is that the rivalry and its emergence is very good for tennis. Both Alcaraz and Sinner are historically good tennis players who have won multiple majors before turning 25.

That's well before what could be considered their physical prime, so they're expected to keep this going for a few more years, and that's very good for tennis, as Sinner stated.

"This spells out very good news for tennis in general on the men's side because, Alcaraz wants to get that number one ranking back. Sinner is gonna keep pushing Alcaraz. Carlos is going to keep pushing Sinner so it's gonna be fantastic for both of them. It's going to be great for tennis with those two guys in particular are making each other better." (4:12)

It's what happened with some other iconic tennis players, though time will tell whether Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz ever get to that level.

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Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz rivalry

It is often said that the Big 3 rivalries pushed those players to new heights. Rivalries in general tend to have a positive effect on players as they enhance the competitive level. That rings true with both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Their US Open clash from a couple of years ago was the first major showdown between the players but it wasn't the last.

The 2024 season gave fans a few more spectacular showdowns between the two. Alcaraz became the first player to beat Sinner in 2024 when he bested him at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. That match featured a massive comeback as Sinner won the opening set 6-1.

Then came the Roland Garros spectacle where Alcaraz turned around a 1-2 deficit to win the match in five sets, going to the final where he would beat Alexander Zverev.

Finally came the Beijing final where Alcaraz once again needed a comeback win to beat Sinner, but he once again got it done. Matches like this are what will keep the interest in the sport high and as Isner said, that's great for tennis.