"Carlos Alcaraz likes surrounding himself with close people" - Jannik Sinner on his rivalry with Spaniard

Jannik Sinner shared his thoughts on the camaraderie he shares with archrival Carlos Alcaraz. The World No. 1 believes that while they are very competitive when they face each other on the tennis court, their dynamic off it is jovial.

Sinner suffered a third consecutive loss to Alcaraz in their rivalry at the China Open final on Wednesday (October 2), succumbing 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-7(3) to the World No. 2 in three hours and 21 minutes. The Italian now trails the Spaniard by a margin of 4-6 in their head-to-head meetings on the ATP Tour.

Despite the loss, Jannik Sinner shared a flight with Carlos Alcaraz to Shanghai for their next tournament. Speaking to the media ahead of his campaign at the 1000-level event, the 23-year-old shed some light on their latest off-court interaction. He maintained that both he and Alcaraz wanted to have a positive impact on themselves while traveling on the tour.

"Well, I feel like that for us it's quite easy, no, because we are, I feel like we are quite similar as human beings off the court. On the court we are a bit different, because that's normal, that's our nature," Jannik Sinner said during his pre-tournament press conference at the Shanghai Masters. "But, you know, off court, I listen to him, I have the feeling that he likes to surround himself with the close people, which I do. Yeah, I mean it's, for us, how we live is very normal, let's say, you know."

Sinner added that he had to often iron out the kinks in his game to stay level with his younger rival. The Italian reiterated that he shared several character traits with the Spaniard off-court.

"Then, obviously, on the court we try to beat, we try to put on a big fight, you know, like we always do and we always try," he said. "Then at least he pushes me to do better, you know, which is something good, where then I try to improve my game in the next days or, you know, in the off-season, you know, you're going to practice for that. Off the court, you know, we are quite similar."

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Jannik Sinner on his China outing: "Very nice to connect with fans"

Jannik Sinner celebrates after reaching final at the 2024 China Open

Jannik Sinner further revealed that he and Carlos Alcaraz had been part of a promotional event that was organized by Nike recently. He also expressed satisfaction at meeting some of his Asian fans.

"Me and Carlos, we had a nice event with Nike. You know, we made some appearance there, which was very nice to connect also with some fans, which was great," Jannik Sinner said. "I'm just trying a little bit to rest, I went a bit in the gym, and now today I practice here for the first time.As I said, it's always special to come back here, and then hopefully I will be ready for tomorrow's first match."

Having received a first-round Bye at the 2024 Shanghai Masters, the top seed will open his campaign against World No. 93 Taro Daniel in his opener next week.