{"id":28099,"date":"2025-09-29T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?post_type=lessons&p=28099"},"modified":"2025-10-04T12:13:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:13:23","slug":"sinner-alcaraz-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"lessons","link":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are dominating tennis (and they\u2019re just getting started)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alcaraz & Sinner: the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis<\/h3>\nEntire<\/span> decades of men\u2019s tennis are defined by epic rivalries<\/span>. In the 1980s, there was the rivalry between Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe: both true competitors<\/span> who showed a lot of emotion<\/span> on the court<\/span>. Then came the 1990s, the decade of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, two players whose personalities<\/span> could not be more different. Sampras was reserved<\/span> and methodical<\/span>; Agassi was a showman<\/span>.<\/p>\n

In the mid-2000s, a new rivalry emerged<\/span>, this time between two Europeans: the Swiss Roger Federer and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal. By the next decade, Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, had forced his way into<\/span> what became an epic<\/span>, three-way<\/span> rivalry. <\/p>\n

Federer retired<\/span> in 2022; Nadal followed two years later. Djokovic has remained competitive<\/span>, playing respectably<\/span> in recent years. He holds the record for 24 Grand Slam tournament titles<\/span>\u2014edging out<\/span> Nadal\u2019s 22 and Federer\u2019s 20. But the 38-year-old said recently that it would be \u201cvery difficult\u201d for him to win another Grand Slam.<\/p>\n

The reason is that men\u2019s tennis is already in a new era. And it looks like two more Europeans will dominate the circuit<\/span> for the foreseeable future<\/span>.<\/p>\n

They are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. <\/p>\n

Sinner is tall and lean<\/span>\u20141.91 meters. And he uses every centimeter of his long limbs<\/span> to cover ground<\/span> on the court. He doesn\u2019t show a lot of emotion when he\u2019s playing. He comes across<\/a> as disciplined<\/span> and methodical<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz is strong and explosive<\/span>; he moves quickly<\/span> around the court. He has a deep arsenal of<\/span> moves; he\u2019ll improvise<\/span> to win a point that looks impossible. He\u2019s expressive<\/span> and charismatic<\/span>, often pounding his chest<\/span> and screaming<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner, from Italy, and Carlos Alcaraz, from Spain, have been playing each other<\/a> since 2019. In fact<\/a>, Alcaraz\u2019s first professional tennis match<\/span> was against Sinner: Alcaraz was fifteen years old; Sinner, two years older. In that match, Alcaraz beat his more established opponent<\/span> in three sets. No one knew it at the time, but this was the beginning of a new era in men\u2019s tennis.<\/p>\n

Their first meeting in a major tournament came in 2022, in the early rounds<\/span> at Wimbledon; Sinner won that battle<\/span>. They met again in New York a few months later, where Alcaraz beat<\/span> Sinner on his way to<\/span> winning his first major title, the U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

Sinner won his first major in Australia in 2024, then followed it up with a second win that year. Coming into this year, at the beginning 2025, Alcaraz had won three and Sinner two Grand Slam tournaments.<\/p>\n

But this was the year that their rivalry really took shape<\/span>. Tennis has four Grand Slam tournaments in a year. Jannik Sinner beat the German Alexander Zverev in the first tournament<\/span> of the year, the Australian Open in January.<\/p>\n

Then, Alcaraz and Sinner faced<\/span> each other in the finals of the remaining three tournaments. Alcaraz won a thrilling<\/span>, five-set victory in the French Open in May. It was an \u201cinstant classic.\u201d Sinner was one point away from winning the whole tournament (twice), but Alcaraz pulled off<\/a> an unexpected<\/span> victory. It didn\u2019t take long for Sinner to get his revenge<\/span>, beating Alcaraz in the Wimbledon finals in July. And then Alcaraz beat Sinner in the U.S. Open final in September.<\/p>\n

So, there were eight spots<\/span> in the final matches of 2025\u2019s four major tournaments. Sinner and Alcaraz claimed<\/span> seven of them. Go back another year. In 2024, either Sinner or Alcaraz reached the finals<\/span> of every major<\/span> tournament\u2014and between them, they won all four. No man not named Sinner or Alcaraz has won a Grand Slam tournament in two years.<\/p>\n

After winning the U.S. Open this year, Alcaraz told Sinner, \u201cI\u2019m seeing you more than my family.\u201d They even ran into<\/a> each other twice in New York\u2014at restaurants.<\/p>\n

Is a dominant rivalry like this good for tennis? There are the two best players in the world\u2014and then there\u2019s a wide gap<\/span> separating them from the next-best tier<\/span>.<\/p>\n

For casual fans who like an easy-to-follow storyline<\/span>, a strong rivalry is good entertainment<\/span>: it\u2019s easy to remember two names and keep track of<\/a> who has won what. <\/p>\n

But the risk is that the first rounds of every major tournament can seem perfunctory<\/span>\u2014like the opening act for the finals that everyone knows is coming. I can imagine even casual fans saying, \u201cWhat, Sinner and Alcaraz again?\u201d in a year\u2019s time<\/span>.<\/p>\nDedicated fans<\/span> find this dynamic<\/span> frustrating. There are a lot of good players in that second tier<\/span>, players with different styles and skills, who may never get to shine<\/span> because the game\u2019s two giants<\/span> dominate every final.<\/p>\n

For maximum entertainment, it\u2019s hard to beat<\/span> the era that recently ended<\/span>\u2014an era dominated by three men, not two. Federer and Nadal had a longstanding<\/span> rivalry\u2014but then Djokovic stormed into<\/span> the top tier. With three players at the top, there\u2019s more drama and less predictability<\/span>, but it\u2019s still easy enough<\/span> for casual fans<\/span> to follow. <\/p>\n

During that time, the British player Andy Murray was always a factor<\/span>, occasionally reaching the finals\u2014and very occasionally<\/span> winning one\u2014against the big three.<\/p>\n

We are still in the early days of the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry. An elite player<\/span> can play in top shape<\/span> for 12 years or more; Sinner and Alcaraz are about three or four years into their elite careers<\/span>. Tennis players hit their peak performance<\/span> between about ages 23 and 29. Carlos Alcaraz is just 22 years old; Jannik Sinner 24. <\/p>\n

In other words<\/a>, make sure<\/span> to learn their names. If you\u2019re even the most casual fan of sports, you\u2019ll be hearing them a lot in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Jeff\u2019s take<\/h3>\n

They are fun to watch. I don\u2019t watch a lot of tennis these days, but I did watch a few of the finals this year. The French Open final was thrilling<\/span>; as good as it gets in sports. As a casual fan, I do like a good rivalry, but I also want others to break through<\/span>, too. A sport shouldn\u2019t be too predictable<\/span>, you know?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For two decades, the Big Three\u2014Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic\u2014defined men\u2019s tennis. With Federer and Nadal retired and Djokovic aging out of contention, a new rivalry has taken center stage. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have claimed every major title in the past two years, marking the beginning of a new era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"lesson_category":[150],"lesson_number":[2642],"terminology_tag":[],"content_tag":[],"topics":[2592,2610],"class_list":["post-28099","lessons","type-lessons","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","lesson_category-sports-recreation","lesson_number-2642","topics-latest-news","topics-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnglish lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis<\/title>\n <!-- Mirrored from plainenglish.com/wp-json/wp/v2/lessons/28099 by HTTrack Website Copier/3.x [XR&CO'2014], Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:27:50 GMT --> <!-- Added by HTTrack --><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /><!-- /Added by HTTrack --> <meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=https://plainenglish.com/"https:////plainenglish.com//lessons//sinner-alcaraz-rivalry///" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"English lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plain English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-04T17:13:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/\",\"name\":\"English lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-29T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-04T17:13:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Carlos Alcaraz after winning the French Open in 2024\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PE Lessons\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are dominating tennis (and they\u2019re just getting started)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/\",\"name\":\"Plain English\",\"description\":\"Upgrade your English\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"English lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis","description":"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"English lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis","og_description":"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.","og_url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/","og_site_name":"Plain English","article_modified_time":"2025-10-04T17:13:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/","name":"English lesson: Alcaraz & Sinner and the new rivalry in men\u2019s tennis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png","datePublished":"2025-09-29T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-04T17:13:23+00:00","description":"In this Plain English story, you\u2019ll learn how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men\u2019s tennis and created a thrilling new rivalry at the top of the sport.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry.png","width":1024,"height":512,"caption":"Carlos Alcaraz after winning the French Open in 2024"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/sinner-alcaraz-rivalry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PE Lessons","item":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/lessons\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are dominating tennis (and they\u2019re just getting started)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/","name":"Plain English","description":"Upgrade your English","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lessons\/28099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lessons"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lessons"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"lesson_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lesson_category?post=28099"},{"taxonomy":"lesson_number","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lesson_number?post=28099"},{"taxonomy":"terminology_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/terminology_tag?post=28099"},{"taxonomy":"content_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_tag?post=28099"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/plainenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=28099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}