Jannik Sinner opened up on his relationship with Carlos Alcaraz (Image: Getty)
has opened up on his relationship with after the Spaniard
The rivals flew to Shanghai together hours after . But Alcaraz quickly shut down assumptions about their friendship.
Sinner has now had his say on how he really feels about the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Sinner and Alcaraz have formed one of the most exciting new rivalries in tennis. They now sit in the top two spots of the rankings and have split the Grand Slam title this year.
The pair also enjoy a good relationship off the court. After their thrilling Beijing final, they both piled praise on one another and even travelled to the next tournament together. But Alcaraz later admitted they weren’t close.
It appears Sinner doesn’t agree, as he was asked how difficult it was for rivals to be friends
“Well, I feel like that for us it’s quite easy, no, because we are, I feel like we are quite similar as human beings off the court,” he said.
Jannik Sinner believes it’s easy to be friends with Carlos Alcaraz away from the court (Image: Getty)
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“On the court we are a bit different, because that’s normal, that’s our nature. But, you know, off court, I listen to him, I have the feeling that he likes to surround himself with the close people, which I do.
“Yeah, I mean it’s, for us, how we live is very normal, let’s say, you know. Then, obviously, on the court we try to beat, we try to put on a big fight, you know, like we always do and we always try.”
The world No. 1 also credited Alcaraz for making him a better player, adding: “Then at least he pushes me to do better, you know, which is something good, where then I try to improve my game in the next days or, you know, in the off-season, you know, you’re going to practice for that. Off the court, you know, we are quite similar.”
While Alcaraz doesn’t count Sinner as one of his close friends, he agrees that they get on away from tennis. “Well, we don’t talk too much when we are around, obviously,” the world No. 2 explained.
“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.
“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.”