Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz not averse to pair up for doubles match: ‘Going to be a surprise’

Italy's Jannik Sinner, left, and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hug after the final tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals, in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo)

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have said that they wouldn’t mind teaming up for a doubles match, although the reality of a tennis calendar might never allow such a pairing in a serious competition. Alcaraz and Sinner, the two leading male players of the current generation, are set to start the 2026 serason by meeting in an exhibition match eight days before the start of the Australian Open.

“It was once or twice we thought about it,” world number one Alcaraz told a press conference on Friday, which was followed by a playful table tennis session in front of hundreds of fans. “But being singles players and playing so ?many matches, tournament after tournament in a row, it’s really difficult to play doubles sometimes. At least once would be fine. But I think I play forehand and he (Sinner) plays backhand.”

Sinner said they might talk about it this year of the next, maybe surprise their fans a bit. “I think it would be fun at least one time to share the court in different ways, on the same side,” he said. “We are going to talk about it maybe this year. Or next year, why not? It’s going to be a surprise!”

Sinner and Alcaraz seem to have ushered a new era of “Big Two” following the decades of success enjoyed by the “Big Three” of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The latter remains a force to be reckoned with, but Sinner and Alcaraz have been pretty much the only players he hasn’t been able to vanquish since his last Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open.

The Major titles since then have all been won by either Sinner or Alcaraz, with the pair even sharing a record-breaking French Open final last year. “We have a great rivalry. We also need to see how long we can keep up this level. What the ‘Big Three’ has done, we cannot compare ourselves with them. We also don’t want to. We are just ourselves,” world number two Sinner said.

“We want to make our own story. It’s how everything should be. In sport, we should not compare so much because everyone is different. I’m happy to be part of this two at the moment. There are many great other players and if we drop just a little bit, they’re going to take our place. It’s great to have him to push me to the limit.”

Sinner stressed that their performances in the Seoul clash would ?not be a true indicator of how they will fare at the Australian Open.

“We’re happy to be here, we’re happy to provide hopefully good tennis tomorrow,” the Italian added.

“But it’s not going ?to reflect on any of us how we’re going to start the tournament in Australia. We are here to make hopefully a good ?match, but also to put a smile on as many people as possible.”