Alcaraz says Sinner can be world No 1 in 2024 – updated after Italian’s semi-final win v Medvedev

Alcaraz also believes the Italian can win his first Grand Slam title

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Umag 2022

Zuma / Panoramic

November 18, 2023

Anyone who has watched Jannik Sinner play in the past few months will know that the Italian is coming into his own. having broken into the world’s top four and reached his first Grand Slam semi-final, at Wimbledon.

His win over world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, helping him to win the Green Group, and then a dramatic three-set win in the semi-final of Daniil Medvedev, will have made a few more people stand up and take notice, and it seems that world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz is among them.

Asked if Sinner could be a contender for his first Grand Slam title in 2024, Alcaraz had no hesitation.

“Absolutely, I have no doubts about it,” the Spaniard said, after beating Andrey Rublev in Turin to keep alive his hopes of making the semi-finals. “He is one of the those guys who are able to win a Grand Slam. I think he’s going to reach the No 1 in 2024 or he’s going to give himself the chance to reach the No 1. That’s my prediction.”

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the 2022 US Open — Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

“Every match we face each other is an amazing match”

Alcaraz has first-hand experience of Sinner’s talent, having lost four of his seven clashes with the Italian, including last time out in Beijing last month. And the 20-year-old said he watched Sinner’s win over Djokovic the previous night.

“Yeah, I saw it,” he said. “As a huge fan of tennis, it was one of the best matches of the year. It was high quality of tennis. It was an unbelievable match. Really close one. I think everybody enjoy that match. Probably a few of them was a lot of nerves watching it. For me, I really enjoyed this match. It was unbelievable.

“Honestly, it would be really tough if I face Jannik in Italy. The crowd is going to be behind him. But who knows. I would love to play that battle against him. Every match that we face each other is an amazing match, so let’s see.”