From the potential ski champion to the future of tennis alongside Alcaraz

Jannik sinner, the great talent of the italian tennis at the age of 21 plays against Carlo Alcaraz for more than a place in the finals of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 on Saturday.

The win would allow him to move up to ninth in the rankings, his best performance as a professional tennis player.

sinner made a strong start to 2023 with the title in Montpellier and reaching the final in Rotterdam before retiring from Marseille due to fatigue and also missing out on Dubai. Now he’s returned to the first Masters tournament on the calendar with recharged batteries.

Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz: A new rivalry in tennis

The Italian watches Alcaraza player two years his junior who was already a Grand Slam champion and world number one.

Their rivalry is destined to mark an era like that of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer And Novak Djokovic.

Despite their youth, they have already met four times and shared the spoils with two wins each.

“We have a good relationship off the pitch, we are friends” sinner explained.

“There is a very positive rivalry between us and he will make me better,” he added Alcaraz.

Alcaraz And sinner are old friends and their first meeting came in 2019 at the Alicante Challenger organized by Equelite, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy.

The Italian player came on a streak of 16 straight wins and fate turned him against him Alcaraz in the first round, with the Spaniard winning in straight sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-3).

Sportswear giant Nike has bet on them both as the future of sport, signing the pair to long-term deals just like they did with them Nadal And springer years before.

Who is Jannik Sinner?

Jannik was a skiing star in slalom and became Italian youth champion in 2008, all because of his parents John And Siglinde worked in a restaurant at the foot of the Fischleintal.

“My dad was a chef and my mom was a waitress, she was always an inspiration,” he explained.

“You always taught me to respect everyone.”

But, sinner also loved tennis and his tremendous maturity on the court soon set him apart from the other players of his generation.

Just of age and by invitation, he won the Next Gen Masters in Milan in 2019. Alcaraz would win the same tournament two years later.

“I think there is a lesson every day, whether you do something good or something bad,” the Italian told the official ATP website.

“I learned a lot from playing futures against people who were way better than me.”