The rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz, who has already been ranked No. 1 but is currently treading water at No. 3, will be jump-started at the year’s first Grand Slam. Sinner is the defending champion Down Under, but Alcaraz knows how to cut him down to size. The way all of this plays over time will likely be the most compelling ATP storyline of 2025.
Alcaraz vs. Sinner may not feature the same glaring contrasts as some of the sport’s titanic rivalries, including Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal. But Sinner’s borderline Spartan, uber-efficient game features a sensibility very different from the improvisational, borderline exuberant approach of Alcaraz. There have been very few great players who will sometimes choose the beautiful shot over the smart one. Sinner is not one of them, but Alcaraz is.
“Alcaraz will throw in a couple more bad decisions than Sinner will,” super-coach and Tennis Channel analyst Paul Annacone told me recently. “Sinner is always going to be less flashy and flamboyant than Alcaraz, more buttoned up. But because of the flash and the flamboyance and the versatility, I think Alcaraz’s ceiling is a little bit higher. But we’re talking fractions here, so it hardly matters.”
