Jannik Sinner admits he ‘misses’ Carlos Alcaraz as meeting spotted | Tennis | Sport
Jannik Sinner has delivered a new Carlos Alcaraz verdict having not played his rival in nearly six months. While Alcaraz started the 2026 season on fire, Sinner has been in top form in recent weeks and that allowed him to complete the Sunshine Double of winning at Indian Wells and at the Miami Open.
The Monte Carlo Masters is up next on the calendar with Sinner asked how he feels about not playing Alcaraz yet this year. He told France TV: “Yeah, I do miss it. He’s a player who pushes me to my limits. But we both know that if we want to face each other, we both have to reach the final and the road to get there is really tough.”
Alcaraz has won nine of their last 11 meetings, however Sinner triumphed in arguably the most important match, which was the Wimbledon final. He also beat the Spaniard the last time the duo faced off to win the Nitto ATP Finals 2025, with that clash back in November.
Though they have not been opponents for some time, Alcaraz and Sinner have still had several meetings in between practice sessions with one of those taking place on the clay in Monaco recently. The duo were spotted shaking hands and exchanging a few words with Sinner captured saying ‘see you later, Carlos’ as he departed the court.
Both players start their respective campaigns in the round of 32 on Wednesday, but the action has already started with Cameron Norrie among those advancing from the round of 64 over the weekend. Sinner has also competed in the men’s doubles alongside Zizou Bergs with he and the Belgian beating Tomas Machac and Casper Ruud on Sunday.
The Italian kicks off his men’s singles campaign against Ugo Humbert while Alcaraz, who is the defending champion, faces Sebastian Baez. One player who will not be at the tournament is Novak Djokovic after pulling out last month as he continues to recover from a persistent arm injury that also saw him miss the Miami Open.
Sinner won that ranking title in Florida after beating Jiri Lehecka in the final. The 11th seed was very nearly out in the first round at the Monte Carlo Masters but he was able to overcome American qualifier Emilio Nava despite losing the second set on a tiebreak.
While Lehecka was able to avoid an upset, three-time champion Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten by Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 7-5. Andrey Rublev is another to have won at Monte Carlo and he got through his first round test against Nuno Borges on Monday.
