Novak Djokovic has made it clear why Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will never be friends. The men’s game’s top two players will do battle again for supremacy within their historic rivalry in the final of the US Open on Sunday night.
Never before in the open era have two men played each other in three grand slam finals in one season, but such is their dominance that it is no surprise to tennis followers. The winner will not only take the lead in the slam finals between them but also end the week as world number one. Given the intensity of their rivalry, their relationship is more respectful than friendly. It was the same for Djokovic and his storied rivalry with ‘big three’ rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The Serb, who was beaten by Alcaraz in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows, was refreshingly open about how he could never have been friends with the pair during the height of their careers. Speaking of his relationship with Federer, he once told Corriere Della Sera: “We have never been friends. Between rivals, it is not possible, but we have never been enemies.
“I’ve always had respect for Federer, he was one of the greatest of all time. He had an extraordinary impact, but I’ve never been close to him.”
On Nadal, he said: “Nadal is only a year older than me, we are both Geminis. At first, we even went to dinner together, twice. But even with him, friendship is impossible.”
Alcaraz and Sinner appear to be closer than the aforementioned trio, although a close friendship is unlikely to develop any time soon. Speaking earlier this year, the Spaniard said: “Once we are on tour, travelling, at tournaments, on site, we are with our teams and on our own, so we don’t speak too much.
“But when we can, we talk a little bit besides tennis, about life. But not too much. It means we have a good relationship but we are not close friends. I think the respect we have puts us in a position that we have a really good relationship.”
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Sinner insisted there was an element of friendship in their relationship earlier in the current tournament, saying: “I think that we have a good friendship also off the court. We see that this is possible. It’s not like you have to be enemies also off the court.
“Of course, we are enemies when we step on the court. We try to play our best tennis, but it ends there. After the handshake, everything is fine again. That’s great to see.”
After beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four, Sinner addressed the growing regularity of big matches with Alcaraz. He said: “We have faced each other quite a lot now lately, so things are getting a little bit different.
“ Always when we step on court, we are aware of maybe more things, because him or me, we try to prepare the match tactically and in different ways.
“Sometimes it’s also nice to not play against him. But it’s great for the sport having rivalries, having hopefully great matches in front of us.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk