By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday October 2, 2023
Episode 7 of the Sinner v Alcaraz rivalry – and episode 3 of 2023 – is set to take place on Tuesday in Beijing.
Sinner, who has been feeling under the weather this week in Beijing and who suffered during his quarterfinal victory over Grigor Dimitrov (6-4 3-6 6-2) on Monday night, won the last meeting with Alcaraz at Miami earlier this year. The pair have split their six previous meetings, and played to a 1-1 ledger in 2023.
Sinner can rise to No.4 in the ATP rankings for the first time if he defeats Alcaraz.
Here’s a look back at the pair’s previous six meetings.
1. 2021 ATP Masters 1000 Paris Hard R32 Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(1) 7-5
Alcaraz took the first tour-level meeting between the pair, earning 11 break points and converting two to win in two hours and eight minutes.
2. 2022 Wimbledon Grass R16 Jannik Sinner 6-1 6-4 6-7(8) 6-3
Sinner opened eyes with an impressive four-set win over the Spaniard on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. The battle lasted 3:35 and Sinner saved all seven break points he faced in the contest.
3. 2022 Umag Clay F Jannik Sinner 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1
Sinner flipped the script on Alcaraz in their first ATP final together, dropping just two of the final 14 games to take a 2-1 lifetime edge against his Spanish rival.
4. 2022 US Open Hard QF Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 6-7(7) 6-7(0) 7-5 6-3
The match that piqued public interest in the Alcaraz - Sinner rivalry! The pair battled for five hours and 15 minutes and managed the latest finish in US Open history, which finished at 2:50 AM. Sinner held a match point at 5-4 in the fourth set, but couldn’t finish off the eventual US Open champion.
“I still don’t know how I did it,” said Alcaraz after the match, which is the most compelling match in the rivalry by far and one of the best ATP matches to be played across the last three seasons. “The level that I played, the level of the match, the high quality of the tennis. It’s unbelievable, the match today. Jannik Sinner is a great player. As everybody could see, his level is just amazing.”
5. 2023 ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells Hard SF Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(4) 6-3
The pair’s fifth meeting had some excellent moments of high quality tennis, but Alcaraz took over the contest in the second set as he took his record to 3-2 against Sinner and reached his maiden Indian Wells final.
6. 2023 ATP Masters 1000 Miami SF Sinner 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2.
It didn’t take long for Sinner to answer back. At the very next event the Italian rallied from a set down to defeat Alcaraz as he reached the final at Miami.