Carlos Alcaraz might have lost easily recently at the 2024 US Open, but Jannik Sinner rubbished suggestions that the Spaniard is an easy opponent to overcome.
Alcaraz might have lost to Botic van de Zandschulp at Flushing Meadows, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy to beat. That’s absurd, according to the reigning World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour, Sinner, who faced him plenty of times and lost on multiple occasions.
Just this year, they faced each other at Roland Garros, and the Italian lost. He couldn’t overcome the Spaniard, so finding weaknesses in his game was very difficult for him. The four-time major winner might not be playing well right now, but it still took one of the best matches of van de Zandschulp's career, if not the best, for the Dutch player to beat him.
That shows just how tricky Alcaraz is to beat because even when he’s not playing his best tennis, he’s still better than the vast majority of other players. Movement is one of the things that makes Alcaraz stand out because he’s just so quick around the court.
Getting any kind of ball past him is almost impossible, and Sinner knows it best, having tried many times. He’s an aggressive baseliner, after all, so he doesn’t change his style if he plays Alcaraz.
He tries his best to implement it during the match, but it’s tough, as he has to bring something special, and he talked about it when asked during the 2024 US Open.
"Yeah, well, it's first of all, very tough, no? It's tough to get the ball past him. He's moving so good. Also the serve has improved a lot. You know, he plays with a very high percentage of first serves."
As somebody who has improved his game a lot in the past year, Sinner knows that Alcaraz is capable of that too. That’s the scary part because he’s already so good, and if he becomes even better, then what kind of level could that be?
The versatility is another factor because Alcaraz can do seemingly everything. He’s superbly effective when attacking but also a capable defender, digging out points he had no business winning.
"He can mix up the return position. It's very dangerous when he plays the forehand when he has time. So there are many, many great things. Obviously, you know, he has been No. 1 in the world and winning multiple Grand Slams, so it's tough to find weaknesses from these kind of players."
And if that wasn't great enough, he’s got a really healthy head on his shoulders. The mentality isn’t perfect, but very few players have a perfect mentality all the time.
Alcaraz is a competitor who rarely gives up, which makes him very tough to beat. Sinner ultimately praised van de Zandschulp for the win because he knows how hard it was.
"And also mentally, no? He's a huge competitor, very tough to beat. All things considered, whoever wins against him, it's a great, great win."
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