Carlos Alcaraz made his thoughts clear ahead of Jannik Sinner’s showdown with Yunchaokete Bu (Image: GETTY)
admitted he wanted to see the back of world No. 1 after booking his place in the final of the China Open. The Spaniard dispatched Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the semis and will face Sinner in the showpiece event after the Italian got the better of Yunchaokete Bu in his last-four encounter.
Alcaraz produced a sensational display to defeat Medvedev for the fourth consecutive time and deny the Russian a place in the final for the second year in a row.
The current French Open and champion is yet to drop a set in Beijing and held his nerve at the crucial moments to .
Alcaraz, who has won 15 ATP Tour-level singles titles, was asked which player he would like to face in the final, with Sinner taking on Chinese wildcard hopeful Bu in the second semi-final of the day.
And the 21-year-old laughed as he explained: “Obviously Bu. I’m not going to lie. Jannik is the best player in the world right now. I mean Bu is playing great tennis during the whole week, beating really top players.
“If I have to choose or I could say who is the best for me to play a final if I want to win it – Bu. As I always said, I really like the battles, the toughest match facing the best players in the world. So if I play against Jannik in the final, I will be happy, as well.”
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Jannik Sinner has previously faced Carlos Alcaraz in nine ATP Tour matches (Image: GETTY)
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Alcaraz has previously gone head-to-head with Sinner on nine occasions and tasted victory in five of those encounters.
The Spaniard overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Sinner in the French Open semi-finals in June before in the final.
Alcaraz also overturned the same scoreline to dump Sinner out of the US Open at the quarter-final stage in 2022 as he ended that tournament as as well. But Sinner got the better when the duo met at in the same year.
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Alcaraz and Sinner have only met in one final previously, with Sinner winning a clay court showdown in Croatia just over two years ago.
And the duo clearly have huge respect for one another, with after Sinner had lifted his second Grand Slam trophy at the US Open last month.
“Congratulations, Jannik,” Alcaraz penned on X (formerly known as Twitter). “You deserve it! Enjoy the moment!”