Jannik Sinner's schedule for the rest of 2025 became clearer after his participation in an event in September was officially announced.
The Italian is currently recovering after a heartbreaking defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 Roland Garros final. Sinner held three championship points in the fourth set, but went on to lose in a deciding set tiebreak.
Although it may take a while to process, Sinner has responded strongly to setbacks in the past. His achievement of reaching a first Roland Garros final in his second tournament back after being suspended was still outstanding.
The ATP world No. 1 will try to find his feet again on grass. Next week, he is scheduled to play at the 2025 Halle Open before appearing at Wimbledon. However, his team is already planning other tournaments for him.
Sinner's participation at the 2025 China Open in Beijing was confirmed on the tournament's social media post. The ATP 500 event will be held from September 22nd until 28th (a WTA 1000 also occurs at the venue).
In 2023, Sinner won the China Open after beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 7-6 in the final. It was a significant moment since the 23-year-old had lost his first six meetings against Medvedev before triumphing in Beijing.
That proved to be a catalyst for Sinner. Since their meeting in the Chinese capital, he has defeated Medvedev seven consecutive times. The 2021 US Open winner's only win in that time was in five sets at Wimbledon against a physically hampered Sinner.
Alcaraz narrowly defeated the Italian in last year's China Open final. After a brutal battle that lasted over three hours, the five-time Grand Slam champion prevailed 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 in what was one of the best matches of 2024.
Sinner would probably be dominating tennis right now if it were not for Alcaraz. The two-time Australian Open winner has an astounding 91-3 win/loss record since the start of 2024 against all other opponents, but is 0-5 against the Spaniard (excluding the Six Kings Slam).
It is reminiscent of Roger Federer dominating tennis in the mid-2000s against every player except Rafael Nadal, and their rivalry became one of the most iconic in sports. Sinner's and Alcaraz's rivalry has the potential to be the same.
Although losing to Alcaraz five consecutive times is disappointing, how close Sinner has been in those matches means that notching victories against his rival in some of their future meetings should be inevitable.
Sinner lost four of the last five matches in the deciding set. Although that is frustrating, his long-term hopes of success would be more uncertain if he never came close to winning a set against the 22-year-old.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal's hard-court matches over the years were an example of a previously competitive rivalry becoming very one-sided. The 14-time French Open champion defeated Djokovic in the 2011 and 2013 US Open finals.
Incredibly, the Serbian won their next 19 sets on hard courts after the 2013 US Open, achieving utter domination over his great rival. Sinner is much closer to beating Alcaraz than that, and has the game to keep troubling the Spaniard.
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