Carlos Alcaraz has been told there is one big area he can still improve on, as he has been told Jannik Sinner is ‘better’ than him in a key facet of the game.
Alcaraz started 2026 in sparkling fashion, as he won the Australian Open to become the youngest player in tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam of all four major titles.
The Spaniard then backed that up by winning the Qatar Open and cementing his position as the world No 1, but his big rival Sinner bounced back into top form as he stormed away with the Indian Wells Masters title.
Alcaraz was well beaten by Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals at Indian Wells and admitted after that match that he was a little jaded following his successful start to the season.
“I’m just getting tired a little of having that target on my back all the time, but I have to accept it,” said Alcaraz.
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“I just realised what I had to do and what I have to think before every match and before every tournament, and it is just playing for me, playing for my team, and for my close people.
“I’m not thinking about I need to win, or I have to win. It’s just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament.”
Alcaraz’s first defeat of the year sparked some debate over whether the seven-time Grand Slam-winning great was showing some signs of fatigue, with former British No 1 Greg Rusedski quick to play down any theory that the world No 1 was losing his way.
He did suggest, however, that Sinner is more astute when planning his schedule, as he reflected back to exhibition events that saw Alcaraz collect big money at a time when his big rival was taking a break from the game.
“It’s finding the balance of not overplaying and not underplaying because he does like to play a lot of tournaments,” said Rusedski on the latest edition of his podcast.
“He played the exhibition in Korea at the start of the year and I just feel like Sinner plans his schedule a little bit better.
“But we can’t say one defeat is any kind of crisis, especially with the way he started this year. Absolutely brilliant start to the year.
“It’s going to be interesting to see the mindset going into Miami because his coach Samuel Lopez, has had the dream run since taking over. It’s the best start to a season ever for Carlos. He won Australia to hold all four majors, the youngest man to do so in the men’s game.
“He didn’t lose a match until Indian Wells, and he still got to the semi-finals, which is a tremendous week.”
Rusedski went on to suggest Sinner could be primed to do the Sunshine Double after his convincing win at Indian Wells.
“I’m going for the Sunshine Double with Jannick Sinner to win back-to-back weeks,” he added. “I just feel like the momentum’s going his way.
“Carlos is gonna wanna step up after not meeting Jannik in the finals, and the other three guys I’m looking to do well are Daniil Medvedev, Jack Draper and we will also get to see Jakub Mensik defend the title. Let’s see how he gets on.”
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