Jannik Sinner fresh from the beautiful success in Halle he is launching himself towards the third Grand Slam of the season, the only one on grass Wimbledon. The Italian is already certain of remaining number one in the world after the London event but wants to continue dreaming. He will be there to challenge him Carlos Alcaraz, fresh from the bad defeat at Queen’s, but holder of the title. Dario Puppo spoke about the rivalry between the South Tyrolean and the Spaniard during the TennisMania episode. Let’s discover the salient steps.
Let’s start immediately with the comparison: “Sinner’s victory in Halle gives me the feeling that something special is happening, as if this rivalry was about to take off. They have already faced each other nine times, together they have already won four Slams, but there has not yet been a grand final between the two. Between them there was only the final in Umag, won by Sinner, five consecutive semi-finals, three matches at Slam level. There is enough balance. Alcaraz’s great strength was winning the games that mattered most.”
And again, at the statistical level: “The most interesting fact is that not only are they both at 14 titles won out of 18 finals. If you look at the victories with the top-10 and top-20 they are identical. It’s clearly a casual situation and it’s not like this is the only thing that needs to be done face to face. Unlike in the past however, they leave more or less at the same time, despite the two year difference. They often found themselves in parallel.”
A small comparison with the stars of the last twenty years: “This match is different from the triumvirate of Nadal, Djokovic and Federer, even if we are not making any comparison given that they are almost at the end of their careers and the two are at the beginning. Federer started first among the Big Three, both Federer and Nadal won their first Slam final. Djokovic lost the first, then won at the Australian Open in 2008. Sinner and Alcaraz have won all their finals.”
The first great direct clash already on the grass? “We are close to the perfect moment, which, as happened with Nadal and Federer, could be the two of them playing in the important finals. At the moment it is not certain that it will happen at Wimbledon, it depends on the presence or absence of Djokovic, but this thing will certainly happen often.”
Continuing to look at the statistics: “Sinner looking at the first 300 career matches is the third for active players. He has won 63 matches between the top 100, 75 between 101 and 200 and even 85 between 201 and 300. He is behind only Murray and Nadal. Sinner has practically not made a mistake in a tournament in twelve months, leaving out Shanghai where he quickly lost to Shelton”.
Another comparison between the two: “Sinner is a very consistent player, he will probably be able to win in all months of the year. He has won ten out of twelve months so far. Unlike Alcaraz who has his peaks which however he exploits in the best possible way. The Spaniard has won in six months out of twelve.”
The blue is phenomenal at serving: “Another thing that intrigued me is to see how Sinner can hold serve. The best percentage of the season was in Halle, at 97%. The average in 2024 is 92%”.
Looking at Wimbledon: “The best surface for Sinner could be grass, obviously after indoor hard courts. On outdoor hard courts there are more competitive rivals. I don’t know how much at the US Open I will be able to go to the final. How he gets to Wimbledon, he gets there really well. Let’s wait for the draw, it could be his major conquest. Winning the Australian Open can give him more freedom.”
