“He is one of the best in the world and he can beat anyone” – Alcaraz praises his rival Jannik Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz knows a thing or two about how talented Jannik Sinner is. That’s why the Spaniard was not surprised by the Italian’s latest title.

Jannik Sinner US Open – Zuma / Panoramic

Chris Oddo

October 6, 2023

After falling to Jannik Sinner in Beijing last week, Carlos Alcaraz didn’t have a lot of time to watch the final between Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.

And when he found out that Sinner took the title in spectacular fashion, erasing a 0-6 lifetime edge against Daniil Medvedev to improve to 9-3 lifetime in ATP finals, the Spaniard was not at all surprised.

“I know the capacity of Jannik”

Alcaraz has had enough hair-raising run-ins with the rising Italian to know that he’s got more than enough talent to win any title – against any player.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Alcaraz told reporters in Shanghai when asked if he was surprised that Sinner was finally able to earn his first win over Medvedev on such a big stage.

“I know the capacity of Jannik. I know his level. He’s one of the best in the world right now and he can beat anyone. I’m not surprised about the final.”

Alcaraz says that the difficult losses to Medvedev have no doubt helped Sinner to understand what it takes to beat a player like Medvedev on his favorite surface. It appears to be the case. According to research by commentator Gill Gross, Sinner changed up his spot serving in a big way against the Russian. He also played with a tad more margin on his groundstrokes.

Among many adjustments, Sinner gradually realized that you need to be favoring the wide serve on the deuce side against Medvedev.

Rotterdam: 44% wide, 50% tee
Miami: 47% wide, 47% tee
Beijing: 60% wide, 33% tee

He went from majority tee, to 50-50 split, to majority wide.
— Gill Gross 🏜️ (@Gill_Gross) October 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/VarunWithAB/status/1709648766179979272

It all added up to one of the biggest wins of Sinner’s career.

“I know that he lost six times in a row against Daniil,” Alcaraz said, “but sometimes you can be a better player because of that; to study, the opponent’s game and what he did wrong in the previous matches to be better and to be able to beat him this time.

“So really happy for him, but honestly, I expect him to win, honestly, because the level that he was playing was unbelievable.”