Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz’s words still make noise: fans divide

After their respective victories on Tuesday against Ugo Humbert and Sebastian Baez, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are enjoying a day of relative rest in Monte Carlo with an eye on Wednesday’s competitions, which will define the Masters 1000 round of 16 slate in the Principality. However, more than the results on the court, it is still the words of Carlos Alcaraz who, despite his win-lightning victory over Baez, shook fans and insiders alike by heralding Jannik Sinner’s overtaking of the No. 1 ATP ranking.

“I don’t know if the overtaking will come in this tournament or in the next one,” Alcaraz said bluntly in his post-match press conference. “I have many points to defend and it will be difficult to confirm them all. Even if I succeed, Jannik will still gain some. First place, however, is not something that worries me.” The words seemed sincere, but several fans interpreted them as an attempt to put pressure on his friend-rival while taking it off his own shoulders.

The picture, for that matter, is clear: on clay Alcaraz will have to defend 4,330 points (Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros), while Sinner just 1,650. It’s a gap that opens up concrete scenarios already in the Principality tournament that has just kicked off: the Blue would become number one by winning the tournament, reaching the final without the Spaniard in the last act or reaching the semifinals if Alcaraz were to go out in the round of 16.

And here the now customary social polarization comes into play. On one side are Sinner’s supporters, who are convinced that overtaking is only a matter of time and that the outfielder from Sesto Pusteria is superior to his rival in terms of continuity; on the other side are Alcaraz’s fans, who read his words as a gesture of honesty and maturity, not as a pretext. In between, a debate that flares up with every match, with fans looking forward to a direct clash between the two.