The Sincaraz era is a rebirth of tennis

Over the years, many Grand Slam finals have become event. When Rafael Nadal plays Roger Federer or Federer faces Novak Djokovic or Djokovic approaches Andy Murray, the game extends into the scene, landing in a few hours, and the morning on the East Coast turns into afternoons, and news comes out. Something happened, something that should not be missed – precious because it is both rare and recognizable, especially because it keeps happening. But then Federer retiresMurray and Nadal Joined the inevitable, only Djokovic, chasing his own shadow. At least in the United States, the sport is getting smaller and smaller. However, on a Sunday in early June, tennis happened again.

There is the second-ranked No. 1 player in the world in the 2025 French Open final. This is an orderly Italian, known for its precise and Alpine reserves. A suffocating machine to resist creativity, unpredictable genius. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz played a profound role in the fourth and fifth sets, spreading just like the past. Social media illuminated. The TV is on. SMS flight. Even the toughest fans know how good the kind of people are separated from the greats, seeing excellent tennis kicking out in the average second round in the smaller events at Metz, trying to fit everything they witnessed into the background. Is this the best game ever since Federer played Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Is it better than this? As the pressure continues to increase, the quality of the shooting only increases, and time passes and the reserves are exhausted. In the fourth set, after Alcaraz had saved three match points, in Game 5 they nailed a quick hit shot, beat the bouncing, running bouncing, waving forehand, destroying the difference between offense and defense. Eventually, the fireworks technique reached a grand finale as Alcalaz led 7-0 in the fifth set tiebreak and finally beat the game with a sprint forehand. In that game, Alkaraz’s tennis was impressive. This is very happy. The game has the same old magic and is the quality of new things.

Alkaraz knows. “I think I have a competitor,” he said. Defeat Djokovic Win the 2023 Wimbledon Championship. “I’m not afraid to say it.” He was not talking about the old guard, but the sinner, who measured himself. “He and I have fought tremendously in all surfaces and in all kinds of competitions, and I believe we will compete for the main championship in the future as well.” In a game at the 2022 U.S. Open, the tempting potential of competition becomes obvious – not only can we communicate a lot of ground strokes for a long time, but also feathery falls and sharp angles, while full-game innovations that damage the usual axis between offense and defense, frontcourt, frontcourt and back. Still, it was a surprising thing at the time. Alcaraz is already the champion and ranked first in the new ranking. The Sinner is the eighth seed, and in the semifinals it is easy for Djokovic to prey.

In a sense, it seems that Alcaraz is willing to compete even before 2022. Alcaraz won three sets. Maybe it set the stage for him, how he feels about the sport. Maybe he needs it to concentrate his ambitions. He is an intuitive player who is prone to emotional fluctuations. When he is happiest, inspired, he is in his best shape. He seems to be distracted, annoyed performers at times in games against other players. To sinners, he is usually noble. As far as sinners are concerned, he played a game of a more average base player at the time – pure, clean ball, but hits predictable mode. When he made the rankings, partly behind the highly regarded serve, he added new dimensions to his game, more changes and touches until only Alkaraz can upset him. Last year, Sinner had a record of 73-3 against all other ATP players. Against Alkaraz, it was 0-3.

“It is an honor to share the court with you in every game,” Alcaraz told Sinner in Roland Garros’ court after beating his title. “I’m really happy to be able to make history with you.” Perhaps it’s easy to say. He won. The competition so far favors Alcaraz – he leads the sinner with an 8-4 record, which is probably one of the reasons why he seems to invest in it. But he often mentions that there is another aspect of sinners, and he desires to put them in standard state. Alcaraz, who was only nineteen years old, brought his first Grand Slam home. Federer was only five years old when he faced Nadal in that iconic game. He grew up from the Big Three and felt that competition made history, just like the rackets and polyester monofilament strings he grew up with. For sinners, more consistent than Alcaraz every week, competition is humane. Sinners can be encountered like robots and cool, and seem to be needed. “Every time I fight him, I feel like we both are trying to push ourselves to the limit.” Sina said, In 2023. “We hate losing, especially failures between each other. We have a great relationship in court – I think we are good friends. But, in court, you know… you still feel a little nervous.” There are limits to this kind of friendship. When Senna missed a three-month tour after the Australian Open, in 2024, as part of a doping suspension for a settlement that failed drug testing (that was considered an unexpected contamination), Alkaraz said he was not the one to lend a hand with him. But when Alcaraz beat Sinner in the final of the Rome Open, Alcaraz had only warm words: “I wouldn’t be tired of saying one person, how amazing you are an athlete.”

How did this noble competition emerge after the golden age of the sport? Tennis journalist Giri Nathan has a book: “Convertabout the sinner and Alkaraz, about the sinner and Alkaraz, which has not yet appeared, but seems to have been excitingly historical. We’re just inside. Tell Another tennis journalist, Ben Rothenberg. “We’re in it now.” Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Alcaraz’s game, like Sinner’s, is based on inheritance, and that’s what it should be. From a young age, Sinner and Alkaraz learned to dip and drive like Nadal and take strokes with obvious edges and spinning weights. They slipped into the corner like Djokovic and learned to hit the rally from the entire stretch. Like Federer, they are not afraid of the internet. They are in line with the latest recovery science, guarding their rest, treating food as fuel, discovering that coaches seem to take care of them, they fuss about their happiness, their fulfilling attention to life.

There is a difference between the game of Sinner and Alkaraz. Alcaraz looks more comfortable on natural surfaces, clay and grass, at least so far, while sinners dominate the hard court. There are more differences in Alcaraz’s level and more differences in his game. Sinners always come to play. At the French Open, Sinner won more shorter points, while Alcaraz won more points with more than four shots. But when they face each other, their game is amazing, not because of their contrasting style, but because of how much they bring together.

What players are missing, they can be found in each other’s examples. Their dynamics seem to be not hatred, but something almost more cooperative. On a technical level, this is true as they improve the game to keep pace and work hard to move forward. The Sinner changed his service mechanism, from a platform to a precise position, which brought him past the top of the game. Alcaraz also changed his serve, and was probably the most underdeveloped part of his game. (Alcaraz hit eighteen aces in the final of the Queens Club.) So is more psychologically, encouraging the creativity of sinners and the discipline of Alcaraz. This week is the beginning of Wimbledon, the most prestigious title of Tennis. Alcaraz won the championship for two consecutive years. Part of the glory of sports comes from a constant sense of renewal. The ball is now on the Sinner’s Field. ♦