The ongoing rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner has currently become the most trending aspect in men’s tennis. While five crucial tournaments in the ongoing season saw Sinner facing Alcaraz in the finals, tennis legend Roger Federer stepped forward to highlight how the tournament directors plan it in a similar fashion.
He also highlighted a major aspect that distinguishes his time to the present scenario in men’s tennis. Here’s what the 20-time Grand Slam champion had to say about ongoing practice.
Roger Federer Highlights the Possible Reason Behind the Frequent Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz Finals
The Laver Cup saw Carlos Alcaraz play a starring role for Team Europe but his singles defeat on Saturday proved particularly costly in the end. Europe looked vulnerable when Alcaraz was beaten 3-6, 2-6 by Taylor Fritz on Day 2, his first loss to the American four meetings. That match helped Team World to build a commanding lead (9-3) that Europe could only chip away at on the final day. Although Alcaraz bounced back with singles and doubles wins on Sunday, and kept hope alive with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Francisco Cerúndolo.
Roger Federer recently address the ongoing rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. According to the tennis legend, the tournament organisers focus on making the surfaces slower so that the fans could witness yet another classic showdown between the two top tanked stars.
“I understand tournament directors who, based on instructions, try to make the surfaces slower. This gives an advantage to those who need to hit extraordinary winners to beat Sinner, whereas if the court is fast, they can just hit a couple at the right time and advance. Tournament directors think, ‘ I’d rather have Sinner and Alcaraz in the final, you know? In a way, it works for tennis,'” he said, in a conversation with Andy Roddick in the Served Podcast.
Further highlighting how things differed back in his prime, the 20-time Grand Slam champion added:
“In my day, only 12 tournaments really mattered, so everyone played on their favorite surface, and sometimes they didn’t meet: those were the best matches, attacker versus counterattack.”
In 2025 alone, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner faced each other five times, with Alcaraz winning four, including the French Open and US Open finals, while Sinner’s lone victory came at Wimbledon. Alcaraz also ended the year with more titles overall.
Andy Murray Highlights a Major Similarity Between Alcaraz and Ronaldinho
Andy Murray recently spoke about how watching Carlos Alcaraz reminds him of the joy and skill of his favourite childhood footballer, Ronaldinho. Murray said that Alcaraz’s on-court flair, the way he plays with creativity, unpredictability and a smile echoes Ronaldinho’s style on the football pitch, something Murray saw live several times growing up.
“He’s a very average golfer, unfortunately for him, but his tennis reminds me of my favourite footballer growing up and I got to see live a few times, which was Ronaldinho,” he said.
“They (Alcaraz and Ronaldinho) have got all of this skill and ability, they obviously want to win, but they play with a smile on their face. If the moment comes to do something entertaining they will, and I think that’s what makes them so absorbing because you never know what is going to happen next, so I particularly enjoy watching him.”
Next up for Alcaraz is the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, his debut in that city, before he returns for the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai on indoor hard courts.
