“Carlos Alcaraz is too good for me” – Jannik Sinner refuses to join Spaniard for another golf session after their outings in Cincinnati

Jannik Sinner talked about playing golf with his biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, and admitted that the latter is too good for him. The top-ranked players touched down in Cincinnati for the final North American swing before the US Open.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have met 13 times since 2021, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head 8-5. They met at two Grand Slam finals this year, Wimbledon and the French Open. Besides their on-court rivalry, Sinner and Alcaraz often meet on the golf course, engaging in lighthearted games when they’re not playing tennis.

In a recent Tennis Channel interview with Prakash Amritraj, Sinner admitted that his golf skills are not on par with the Spaniard’s. Still, he will nonetheless enjoy some golf time amid his Cincinnati campaign, as there’s not much to do in the area.

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"Yeah, we actually played now a couple of times before the tournament here. I'm not a good golfer, but I love to spend time doing different things now. And we were just talking, maybe now we go, because it's also not late. Tomorrow I have one day off, so maybe we play a couple of holes here. Also last year, you know, here it's the best place to play golf. In Cincinnati there's not so much to do, so we're actually lucky that the golf course is there. So, yeah, the first hole is, okay, should be straight, you know, but on the left there are all cars, and if one ball finished in the car, everyone, it's me."

When asked to play with the reigning French Open champion, Sinner laughed and admitted:

"Carlos is too good for me. Me and my team is better"

Sinner defeated Daniel Elahi Galan in just 59 minutes in the Cincinnati first round, recording his fastest victory in the 2025 season.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz shared a lighthearted moment at a Cincinnati Open practice session

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz's camaraderie often comes to light while their on-court rivalry keeps the world on its toes. The duo reunited at the Cincinnati practice court after the Wimbledon finals and shared a heartwarming conversation as they asked each other how they had spent their past weeks.

When Sinner asked how Alcaraz's three weeks after the grass-court major looked, the Spaniard replied:

"Nothing crazy. Yeah at home. I mean, I spent two weeks at home, one week in the south of Spain. It was nice. Three weeks in summer at home, you know, felt like bored. It was different. At least one year that I didn’t see, you know, all my friends, all the people, doing whatever they want." (via Tennis Letter X)

Jannik Sinner, the current world No. 1 and four-time major champion, will next face Canadian player Gabriel Diallo in the Cincinnati Open. On the other hand, Alcaraz is scheduled to play Damir Dzumhur in the Round of 64 on August 10, 2025.

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About the author

Agnijeeta Majumder

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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