Nearly two weeks after beating him in straight sets in the semi-finals in Indian Wells, Carlos Alcaraz will face Jannik Sinner again on Saturday again in the semi-finals but this time in Miami. The Spanish number 1 says he is delighted to find the Italian, against whom he loves to play and who is one of his friends on the circuit.
Not sure the Italian will share the same sentiment. The last two times he has come up against the 19-year-old Spanish behemoth, he has indeed bit the dust both times. Admittedly during the last US Open, won by the world number 1, Jannik Sinner had come very close to the feat in the quarter-finals. Beaten in five sets in New York after leading 2 sets to 1, the number 11 in the standings did not weigh heavily on the other hand (defeat 7-6, 6-3) a little less than two weeks ago in Indian Wells , a tournament then also won by Alcaraz, in the semi-finals.
And the worst may be yet to come for Sinner, who will once again find his Californian Masters 1000 tormentor in the semi-finals on Saturday, knowing that the native of El Palmar may never have seemed as above ground as Currently. Fritz, swept away in the quarterfinals on Thursday (6-4, 6-2) by Juan Carlos Ferrero’s protege, can testify to this (“I played against Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and I felt like I had more time to breathe against them”, estimated in particular the American after the slap he had just received): there is practically nothing to hope for currently on hard against “Rey Carlitos”.
Alcaraz: “Enjoyable matches to play and watch”
The latter, meanwhile, says he is very happy to find Sinner again on his way to the gates of the final. Not only does the youngest world number 1 in history love playing against the Italian, whom he has already faced five times (he leads 3-2), but the winner of the Montpellier tournament at the start of the season also one of his closest friends on the circuit. Beyond the guaranteed spectacle as soon as the two players challenge each other, Alcaraz therefore gets off to a good start.
” I can not wait to be there. I like playing against him. These are fun games to play and watch. We have a very good relationship off the courts him and me. We are getting along very well. We only see each other at tournaments, we don’t have time to talk much, but we get on well, ”said the huge tournament favorite en route to an Indian Wells-Miami double on the eve of the reunion between these two men who could monopolize the first two positions in the ranking very quickly and for a long time.