Sinner & Alcaraz: From #NextGenATP champs to the world's Top 2

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are two of the six players who have won the prestigious Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. This week, they are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, respectively.

Sinner, 22 and Alcaraz, 21, are the first pair of 22-and-under players to hold the top two spots in the PIF ATP Rankings since Roger Federer and Andy Roddick in August 2004. On 8 August 2004, Federer turned 23.

Sinner is the first Italian to reach the singles pinnacle, man or woman, since computerised rankings began in 1973. He is the 29th man to climb to the top of the sport.

Aged 19, Alcaraz became the youngest No. 1 in PIF ATP Rankings history following the 2022 US Open. He was also the first teen to accomplish the feat.

This is the first week the duo has occupied the top two spots in any order. The stars met for the ninth time in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series in the semi-finals of Roland Garros, where Alcaraz won in five sets. The Spaniard later lifted the trophy at the clay-court major for the first time.

Both men have embraced their rivalry and have the utmost respect for one another. Alcaraz currently leads their series 5-4.

“Everything he does, he does it perfectly. The way that he hit the ball is unbelievable. The way he moves, it’s really, really [good]. He pushes you to the limit in every ball, in every point,” Alcaraz said of Sinner ahead of their Paris semi-final. “I think it is the hardest thing to face Jannik. At the same time I love that.”

The 21-year-old later said: “Probably a little bit more nerves before facing him. I’m not going to lie. I mean, he probably is one of the most difficult challenges that we can face in tennis right now.”

Sinner pointed out that they tend to play towards the end of the biggest tournaments. Their past five clashes have come in semi-finals and seven of their nine meetings have been at Grand Slam tournaments or ATP Masters 1000 events.

“Very important matches. I think that’s exciting for the game, especially when [the] head-to-head is quite close,” Sinner said before their Roland Garros clash. “And the winner is happy and then the loser tries to find a way to beat him the next time. I think that’s exciting.”

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Paul Annacone, a Tennis Channel commentator who has had a front-row seat to storied rivalries when he coached the likes of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer, believes Sinner and Alcaraz will have “great battles” in the coming year.

“Look, you can’t ever, ever, ever replace what these icons have done that are winding down — Roger, Rafa and maybe Novak, who knows, and Andy Murray and Stan — but tennis is in pretty good hands with those two,” Annacone said. “And I think there’s going to be a bunch of other players that are going to be knocking on the door of the majors as well, which will be fun.”

The future is now, led by Sinner and Alcaraz.

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