Carlos Alcaraz was ahead of Jannik Sinner for much of 2023, but according to former ATP player Tim Henman, the Italian closed the gap by the end of the year.
The first half of the season saw Jannik Sinner play pretty solid tennis overall, but there was one youngster who was even better. Carlos Alcaraz was by far the best player in the first six months of the season, with Novak Djokovic being on par with him.
Jannik Sinner had his moment in the second half of the season with several trophies and an amazing run at the end of the season.
The way the Italian performed showed Henman that he basically closed the gap with Alcaraz from the start of the year. He explained his view of the rivalry in an interview with Eurosport.
It looks like when Sinner and Alcaraz have played, they've had incredible matches. They are different personalities. They've got similar games. I think Alcaraz has got a little bit more versatility but in terms of ball striking and power from the back of the court, Sinner is phenomenal.
I felt that Alcaraz was definitely a good step ahead of Sinner but the way Sinner played at the end of last year, I think Sinner has absolutely closed the gap.
Alcaraz and Sinner have played seven times already, and the Italian actually leads the head-to-head 4-3. It's a pretty close rivalry, with either able to win at any time, but the Italian won the two most recent matches which seems to support Henman's stance.
The loss in Beijing was particularly frustrating for Alcaraz because he seemingly couldn't touch the Italian. 2024 will bring us all the answers, and it's here. We're only a few days away from the new season and about two weeks from the first Grand Slam of the year.
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