Borg-McEnroe. Sampras-Agassi. Federer-Nadal. A dyadic rivalry between the best two racqueteers is the most satisfying modern translation of the medieval duel: a protracted war (minus the shooting) between two supremely talented and driven personages.
On Sunday, the Law of Eternal Recurrence brought us the latest edition: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, whose rivalry is already branded as ‘Sincaraz’. Many had wondered if tennis would lose its charm after the high profile departures of the likes of Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
Like with all end-of-era doomsaying, they need not have bothered. The sport’s next era is upon us. While Novak Djokovic ground his way to yet another Slam semifinal, ‘Sincaraz’ have portended much more than the fate of a single tournament. From early 2024, the Italian and the Spaniard have split the six Majors. On Paris’s iconic red dirt, they etched out the reasons in longform, in fact, in the longest French Open final in history, a duel that blazed in white heat, like a littoral sun at high noon, with the clock on pause.
One could see why Alcaraz, who only turned 22 last week, has been compared to the likes of Nadal. At one point in the final, the Spaniard was down three match points. But he summoned his will and ran himself through a brick wall to beat the Italian in five sets. Alcaraz already owns five Majors. You could say History is among them.
The Italian, 23, is harder to bracket, but he too has an array of weapons at his disposal. His shot-making from beyond the baseline is dazzling, while his serve is a valuable weapon. It is to Alcaraz’s credit that he has dominated this rivalry, at least in recent times.
The H2H is 8-4 for the latter, five of the eight wins in the last 18 months. When Wimbledon starts in less than three weeks, Alcaraz expects to add a sixth Major, as he hasn’t lost at SW19 since a fourth-round exit in 2022. Conversely, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam where the Italian has yet to make the final.
For tennis fans, though, the sport is in safe hands—this most primal of racquet games thrives on personalities, historic matchups, and the drama of individual contests. Expect more from Sincaraz.