Justine Henin has given her view of the increasingly one-sided rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Henin, the seven-time Major champion, was commenting after Alcaraz’s devastating performance in the final of the Italian Open, beating the Italian World No. 1, 7-6(5), 6-1. The victory was the Spaniard’s fourth in a row over Sinner.
Henin’s impressive career was cut short by an elbow injury when she was just 29. The Belgian held the No. 1 spot in women’s tennis for 117 weeks in the 2000s, and aside from her seven Majors, won an Olympic gold in 2004 and 43 career WTA titles. Now a broadcaster and tennis analyst, Henin is considered an expert on the sport she graced for so many years.
Henin was interviewed by Eurosport, reported by welovetennis.fr, and gave her considered view about the burgeoning rivalry between the 23-year-old Jannik Sinner and the 22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. Most observers believe that the Sinner vs Alcaraz story will dominate world tennis for the next few years, but Henin feels that the situation could easily change:
Trending
"The numbers are there, he’s taking the lead. That doesn’t mean it won’t change. We’ve seen Sinner’s solidity for a long time now, but we’ve also seen Alcaraz’s ability to excel on final days. On this surface, he can take an even greater lead over Sinner."
Henin is persuaded by Jannik Sinner's ability to bounce back from adversity. She acknowledges that Alcaraz's game is far better suited to a clay court, but that Sinner is adept at finding solutions to problems:
"Facing a Sinner who is gaining momentum, who has just returned, he has rediscovered the taste for this rivalry. The numbers are starting to hurt for Sinner, but we can count on him to find a solution."
Despite that, Henin agrees that, for now, Carlos Alcaraz has the upper hand. The Spaniard is in top form and seems to be able to raise his game against Sinner when the going gets tough:
"But Alcaraz at his best, with the weapons he has, has everything he needs to shake up Sinner and cause him problems; he’s proven that enough.”
Jannik Sinner is yet to get past a semifinal at Roland Garros. Alcaraz won the title last year and will be the defending champion at the end of the month, although Sinner has been named as the top seed.
Carlos Alcaraz leads Jannik Sinner 7-4 in their head-to-head
There is no doubt that Carlos Alcaraz's Italian Open triumph presents Jannik Sinner with some difficult questions to answer. The Italian has now lost the pair's last four encounters, and the manner of the defeat in Rome, in which he surrendered the second set 1-6, will be a concern for the world's top-ranked player.
Alcaraz, however, recognised in his post-match on-court interview that Sinner's three-month ban earlier this year would have affected his performance in the match. Alcaraz said, as reported by BBC.co.uk/sport:
"The first thing I want to say is that I'm just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level. I'm sure it wasn't easy for him coming back after three months and making the final is something insane, so I have to congratulate him."
The Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry has been packed into 11 matches in four years, with eight of their games taking place in important finals or semifinals. Alcaraz has had the edge on clay and hardcourt, but they've only played once on grass, when Sinner defeated Alcaraz in 2022 in the early stages of Wimbledon.
