Jannik Sinner responds to question on whether he’s tired of facing Alcaraz in finals

“There was only one goal in my mind: try to get back here or in Wimbledon next year and trying to make it different…”

This confidence showed throughout his 7-5 6-4 6-3 win over Daniil Medvedev on Friday night. The Russian had hoped to repeat his upset from two years ago when he beat Djokovic at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But this time around, Sinner looked far more composed under pressure, never letting Medvedev into any kind of rhythm.

Sinner takes different view than Federer

After his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Sinner was asked if he’s ‘getting sick’ of playing Alcaraz. He replied:

“On court we like to see each other because considering our ranking that means we are doing well.

“Off court, we bump into each other at times. I don’t know if we are happy or not! But I think it’s great, we have a great relationship off the court, and everything is fine between him and me and also our teams.

He was then reminded of a famous comment from Roger Federer, who once said he’d prefer to face someone other than Rafael Nadal.

Sinner was asked if he shares that viewpoint. He responded:

“Yes and no! If that is what Roger said, I feel like we all think the same way. But I love these challenges. I love to put myself in this position, and he is someone who pushed me to the limit, which is great because then you have the best feedback that you can have as a player.

“We have faced each other quite a lot now lately, so things are getting a little bit different. Always when we step on court, we are aware of more things because him or me, we try to prepare the match tactically in different ways.

“Sometimes it’s also nice not to play against him! But it’s great for the sport having rivalries and hopefully having great matches in front of us, and then we will see. But I’m someone who loves these challenges and I love to put myself in these positions.”

How many times have Sinner and Alcaraz played each other?

Despite being only 22 and 24, Sinner and Alcaraz’s consistent excellence has brought them together often in a relatively short span.

This US Open final will be the 15th time they’ve met, and it’s also their sixth straight meeting in a final across all competitions.

It speaks to just how far ahead of the pack they are right now. Their consistency means every major event feels like it’s building towards another showdown between the two, even before play gets underway.

Alcaraz holds the upper hand in their head-to-head, with nine wins to Sinner’s five. There have been some draws as well in their encounters over the years.