Peer pressure can be a great motivator. On Sunday evening, in the aftermath of Jannik Sinner’s first major title, his coach was asked to what extent Sinner had been inspired by the example of Carlos Alcaraz. The answer was unequivocal.
“Hell, yeah,” said Darren Cahill, a hugely respected operator who has worked with three world champions. “Carlos has done groundbreaking work for many young players. We are grateful for that. It’s a pleasure to watch him, we aim to be as good as him and hopefully one day be better than him. But right now we are chasing Carlos, and we will continue to do so.”
Was Cahill a little too generous in his last sentence? Yes, Alcaraz has two major titles to Sinner’s, having captured the 2022 US Open and last summer’s Wimbledon crowns. But at the age of twenty, he is still learning to deal with the high expectations around him. After winning six of the ten events he entered in the first half of last season, Alcaraz has gone zero since then.
The 22-year-old Sinner has now achieved a phenomenal series that makes him the best player in the world in terms of form. It would be impressive enough to have lost just one of his last fifteen matches – and that against Novak Djokovic at the end of the ATP Finals. But this statistic becomes even more surprising when you look closer. Nine of these opponents were top-10 players.
As long as both men stay fit and motivated, we can look forward to a long-lasting rivalry – one with the X-factor that comes with a clash of styles. Alcaraz plays loose and instinctive tennis and sometimes has difficulty maintaining his focus during the match. While Sinner – an Italian who grew up close to the Austrian border in the mountainous province of South Tyrol – has the ruthless discipline we often associate with German engineering.
So how do these two whiz kids compare? Here’s a quick analysis:
Serve
Alcaraz 7/10
With his explosive physicality, Alcaraz can knock down a 130 mph serve when he wants to. But his chest action is not the most technically correct, and his accuracy needs improvement. He puts in a lot of first serves in the penalty area, without finding the corners often enough. Over the course of 2023, his total of 302 aces was relatively low.
Sinner 8/10
One of the most notable achievements of Cahill and his coaching partner Simone Vagnozzi is completely revamping Sinner’s serve, adding more shoulder movement and a sliding back foot before the jump. “His serve improved a lot,” Djokovic said after their semi-final in Melbourne. “He hits the corners very well and I think he has also increased his speed.” In the final, Sinner faced a crisis on the break point in the fourth set. His response? An ace to the ‘T’.
Ground stripes
Alcaraz 8/10
When turned on, the Alcaraz forehand becomes a magic wand that can convey any combination of pace, spin and angle. Still, this is a flamboyant swing that can also spray the ball when the timing gets away from him – which happened during the first two sets of his quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev in Melbourne. Alcaraz’s opponents have increasingly started serving to his forehand, because his return tends to cough up errors. His backhand is more compact and reliable, but not as deadly a weapon.
Sinner 10/10
Sinner is enchanting from the ground up. There is something of a computer game in the way he hits his shots with equal speed and penetration from either wing, without letting up his pace for a second. Sinner’s basic strokes are currently the best in the world, even surpassing those of Djokovic, who finished 2023 with the highest-rated forehand and backhand of the season.
Variety
Alcaraz 10/10
It felt fitting that Alcaraz sealed his Wimbledon title and capped off the best match of 2023 by repeatedly dropping Djokovic. His forehand drop shot in particular changed the game. This option used to be a rare visitor to the ATP Tour, but is now catching on with many players. Alcaraz is also an experienced volleyer with a wonderful ball feeling.
Sinner 8/10
Your strength is also your weakness, they say, and Sinner’s metronomic foundations have always been so strong and so natural that he hasn’t developed many other options during his developmental phase. Here too, the coaching of Cahill and Vagnozzi has proven invaluable. Lately they’ve equipped him with a decent, if not world-famous drop shot, plus a solid slice. He also volleys with increasing authority.
Movement
Alcaraz 10/10
Alcaraz is an exciting jack-in-the-box and one of the toughest players to hit through, as he moves laterally so quickly and easily that he could be on rails. When switching to the other axis – forward and backward on the playing field – it is even faster. If you want proof, just look at the impossible trick shot Alcaraz pulled off against Djokovic at Roland Garros last year. He must have traveled through a wormhole to reach that ball.
Sinner 9/10
Again, Sinner is less flashy than Alcaraz, but he covers the field with great fluidity and poise. If there is a table tennis quality to his hitting style, it is because he is always cutting the corners and moving forward to take away his opponent’s time. You rarely see him pushed deep behind the baseline.
Totals: Alcaraz 35 Sinner 35
The two young meteors came out equally in our study, but I still give the victory to Sinner. Groundstrokes should actually count double, because they form the basis of every tennis match. It’s hard to see Alcaraz beating Sinner on a hard court at this point, especially considering their respective confidence levels. But the great charm of tennis is that everything changes: not only the form, but also the conditions and surface. Once the tour moves on to the red clay of Europe, all bets are off.