Carlos Alcaraz refuses to answer Jannik Sinner question ahead of Monte Carlo Masters final | Tennis | Sport

Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from successfully defending his Monte Carlo Masters crown, but his greatest rival, Jannik Sinner, stands in his way. ‘Sincaraz’ will meet for the first time in 2026, with both the Monte Carlo Masters title and the No. 1 ranking at stake.

On paper, Alcaraz may be the favourite. He’s more comfortable on clay courts, he’s the reigning champion, and he had more time to prepare for the tournament compared to Sinner, who won the Miami Open just seven days before the Monte Carlo Masters got underway. But the Spanish superstar knows it’s not that simple, and he’s giving nothing away ahead of their 17th tour-level meeting.

Alcaraz knows he’ll need to bring his best if he wants to beat his Italian rival, and he’s already putting the work in, getting back out on the practice court immediately after his semi-final victory over Valentin Vacherot on Saturday evening. But he refused to share his tactics to face Sinner when quizzed about his plan of action.

“What do you mean? The practice plan or… Oh, the tactic? I’m not gonna say it here. I hope everyone will understand it,” he grinned. While Alcaraz doesn’t want to talk about his game plan, the world No. 1 has been keeping a close eye on his rival’s progress through the draw.

He added: “But, you know, I have been watching his matches the whole tournament. I know what he’s been improving. I know what he’s doing great. If I’m not wrong, it’s going to be the 17 meetings against him, so I know him pretty well.

“So I will be ready, and of course I will talk to Samuel [Lopez, his coach], and we will prepare the match in some way, but we cannot, you know, give any advice to him on what I’m gonna do tomorrow. No spoiler. You will see tomorrow, though.”

While Alcaraz won’t shed light on his tactics, he already knows one new weapon Sinner will bring to the court in Sunday’s final – his dropshot. Alcaraz is the one known for his tricky dropshots, which often catch his rivals out, but the world No. 2 has been working on that area of his game of late, and the Spaniard has taken notice.

Earlier in the tournament, the reigning champion said: “Obviously I have seen Jannik making more dropshots than usual. He’s doing pretty good, to be honest. You know, every dropshot, I know he’s been working on it, but it seems like it’s natural to him right now.

“So it’s gonna become a really good weapon for him. We could see that he’s building the point, and then the opponent step back a little bit, and then he makes the dropshots. I think he’s doing really well.”

The world No. 1 was also intrigued to see how Sinner would fare when he had to hit dropshots in high-pressure situations. And he will soon find out when they meet for a Masters title and the top spot in the rankings. “If he has to do it in a really, like, tough moments, like in pressure moments, let’s see how he’s gonna be, but right now, he’s pretty good in the dropshot,” Alcaraz added.

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