Rafael Nadal reveals what Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner need amid ATP dominance

Former World No.1 Rafael Nadal has pointed out that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will need competition from other rivals. Sinner and Alcaraz share a great rivalry, and there is no doubt that these two have been the two best players on the tour in the last couple of seasons. The duo has also shared the last eight Slams between them.

Barring the Australian Open final, Alcaraz and Sinner met each other in the Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and US Open finals. 

While Alcaraz won the Roland Garros and US Open against Sinner, the Italian won the Wimbledon and Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in 2025 against the Spaniard. Sinner had championship points in the French Open final but Alcaraz was able to bounce back strongly. 

While World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has 12,050 official points under his belt, Sinner, the second-ranked player in the PIF ATP rankings, has 11,500 points. The World No.3 Alexander Zverev has 5160 points in his bag.

Alcaraz has a 10-6 Win-Loss record in head-to-head battle against Sinner. 

“I think Sinner and Alcaraz need someone to squeeze them. Fonseca? I think he’s still young and not in a position to think about it. They need someone to squeeze them a little because they have marked differences with everyone else and in any version they can beat anyone, until they meet the other. Those of us who see it from the outside have the feeling that even if they play badly, they will continue to win and reach all the finals,” said Nadal [via puntodebreak].

In the same interview, the Spaniard was asked if he misses tennis and regrets the retirement decision.

“It’s a closed chapter, and a closed one at that,” Nadal replied.

“I’m convinced my time had come because there was nothing else. This doesn’t mean I won’t have fun playing in an exhibition in the future.

“There’s no need to dream about it; it’s a very real possibility that I’ll play with Djokovic or Federer. What we can’t expect is the same level we played at before [laughs].

“If the opportunity arises, we’ll prepare to play at our best.”