Carlos Alcaraz cleared up assumptions about his friendship with Jannik Sinner (Image: Getty)
has cleared up assumptions about his friendship with Jannik Sinner.
The pair faced off in an on Wednesday where Alcaraz came out on top, beating the Italian in a final set tiebreak.
Afterwards, they travelled to Shanghai together, and Alcaraz has now opened up on his relationship with Sinner as the pair embark on a rivalry of their own.
Alcaraz and Sinner have long been tipped to fill the void left by the Big Three in men’s tennis. The young stars have already formed an exciting rivalry – they are the top two players in the world and their Beijing final clash was their 10th meeting.
Afterwards, the rivals paid tribute to one another during their speeches and Alcaraz told Sinner: “I respect you a lot as a player but even more as a person.”
But the Spaniard has since elaborated on those comments.
After arriving in Shanghai for the Masters 1000 event, Alcaraz said: “Well, we don’t talk too much when we are around, obviously.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner to win the China Open (Image: Getty)
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“We have a really good relationship off the court as well. I think we both respect each other a lot, as a player, as a person, but once we are on tour travelling, you know, during tournaments when we are on site, we are with our team on our own, so we don’t speak too much.”
While the four-time Grand Slam champion gets on well with the world No. 1, he admitted they ‘are not close friends’.
Alcaraz added: “When we can, we talk a little bit besides tennis, about life a little bit, but not too much.
“We have a good relationship, but we are not close friends, you know, but I think the respect that we have, you know, put us in a position that we have a really good relationship.”
While they aren’t the best of friends, Alcaraz and Sinner are clearly happy to spend time together. After their showdown at the China Open, both men shared a private jet from Beijing to Shanghai so they could get to the next tournament.
“I think tennis is different than other sports because we are fighting against each other, three-hour match, really close, he could win,” Alcaraz said of their joint travel plans.
“At the end I got the win and then, two hours later, we are in the same plane having some laughs, making jokes, talking about life, acting like nothing happened before.”