By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday October 4, 2024
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz simply performed among the best matches of 2024 within the Beijing remaining, and the pair of rivals may meet once more in Shanghai, the place they’re slated to satisfy within the semifinals if the seeds maintain.
Sinner says that’s simply effective with him, and admits that he’s all the time eager about what he can do higher to defeat his rival, the person who has toppled him in every of the 3 times they’ve met in 2024.
“It’s good that we’re rivals on the court docket after which mates off the court docket,” Sinner advised ATP Media. “I really feel like — no less than speaking from my facet — he pushes me to do higher. I get up within the morning attempting to grasp what I can do higher, attempting to beat him subsequent time, which is one thing good for me as a participant.”
“I really feel like off the court docket we’re fairly comparable as a result of we’re encompass ourself with our shut ones, we like to stick with the group. There are numerous comparable issues.”
Sinner will face Taro Daniel in his first match at Shanghai on Saturday. Alcaraz will face rising Chinese language Shang Juncheng within the eighth Masters 1000 occasion of 2024.
On the court docket Sinner acknowledges the distinction between the 2 stars, and provides that he can be taught from watching the way in which that Alcaraz goes about his enterprise.
“On the court docket, we’re completely different,” Sinner mentioned. “He’s the one who brings the firepower, the recent photographs, he includes the group. He’s a bit completely different. I’m extra just like the strong participant, fairly calm, so it’s like hearth and ice a bit, nevertheless it’s a pleasant mixture.
“It additionally reveals that everybody is completely different. I consider that I’ve to take one thing from him as a participant, attempting some completely different photographs generally, which I really feel like makes me develop as a participant, however this takes time – we’re simply attempting to do ourselves, to be ourselves on the court docket.”