"I like hearing it, I'm not gonna lie" - Carlos Alcaraz on rivalry, off-court relationship with Jannik Sinner, and sharing Grand Slams together

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have swept all four Grand Slam titles of 2024, which led to discussions among the tennis fraternity about Sinner and Alcaraz taking over the mantle from the ‘Big 3’ — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. This was the first year since 2002 that none of the three won a singles Grand Slam.

Understandably, Sinner and Alcaraz’s dominance has given way to conversations of a future rivalry akin to the one that the ‘Big 3’ shared for two decades.

Speaking about the possibility during a Laver Cup press conference, Alcaraz conceded that he liked the idea of sharing such a rivalry with Sinner and enjoyed when people talk about them in that context.

"Well, a lot of people talk about it," Carlos Alcaraz said. "I like hearing it, I'm not gonna lie. I hope so. I hope that we our rivalry is going to be or almost that the Big 3 had during the whole career."

Notably, Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, while Sinner captured both the hardcourt Slams at the Australian and US Open.

Reflecting on the year, Alcaraz said it’s great to share those big stage moments with someone like Sinner before expressing hopes of having many more battles on court in the future.

"I don't know. This is the first year that we shared all the Grand Slams. Hopefully gonna keep going like that, sharing great moments, fighting for the great tournaments, the Grand Slams, Masters 1000, Masters," Carlos Alcaraz said.

"So let's see how it's gonna be in the future the next few years. If we're gonna stay like that at this level, I think we are gonna build great rivalry, relationship off the court, as well," he added.

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"Jannik Sinner pushes me to practicing 100% just to try to beat him" - Carlos Alcaraz

Croatia Open - Day 8 - Source: Getty

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have played each other on nine occasions, with the Spaniard leading their head-to-head by a slender 5-4 margin. The two always bring out their best tennis when playing each other and only three of their nine meetings have been decided in straight sets.

Alcaraz said he enjoys playing in the same era as Sinner, given that he is always pushing to work harder in order to be able to beat him.

"Hopefully having him [Jannik Sinner] here on the tour for a long time, because he push me to be a better player every day," Carlos Alcaraz said.

"He push me to practicing 100% just to try to beat him, you know, in the next matches. So it's great, hopefully having that great rivalry that the Big 3 had in their career," he added.

While Sinner has taken some off since winning the US Open, Alcaraz, after competing in the Davis Cup, is currently playing at the Laver Cup where he will face off against Taylor Fritz in the singles event on September 22.