Carlos Alcaraz made a surprise pick when asked to name the current best player on the tennis circuit. Alcaraz overlooked Sinner and backed Alexander Zverev as the best player in the world currently. Sinner did win Wimbledon, but he didn’t have the best year in Grand Slams, losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the Australian Open and then making an early exit at the French Open. He was forced to withdraw from the US Open due to a knee injury. The Italian, however, won five consecutive Masters events this year.
With Sinner out, Alcaraz, who is representing Team Europe at the Laver Cup alongside Zverev, dubbed the German as the current best player.
“[Zverev] is probably the best player in the world right now, so having him by my side is going to be a great weapon that we are going to use,” he responded to the query by ATP.
“Hopefully we are going to get many points and I am going to try to [lift] him up as much as I can. I missed lifting the trophy last year, so I am going to do whatever it takes to do it this year.”
Zverev, who won the French Open and US Open this year, was also asked the same question after his US Open win, and he picked himself as the best player in the world. Zverev, however, made it clear that when Sinner is fit, he is probably the best in the world.
“You have to take everything into consideration. With Sinner being injured and Alcaraz coming back from injury after four months, right now, probably yes. Both of them healthy and both of them at the top of their game, maybe not.
“But if we say right, right now with Jannik being injured and Carlos coming back from injury, maybe. I mean, four, five months ago when both of them were healthy, I wasn’t. I was losing to Jannik all the time. So if everyone is healthy, I think Jannik is still ahead. It’s as simple as that.”
Sinner Pulls Out Of China Open
Meanwhile, Sinner will be out of action for more time as he pulled out of the China Open.
“Hello everyone, Jannik here. I want to send the warmest greetings to the Chinese fans. I’m very sorry to announce that I won’t be able to play in Beijing this year,” Sinner said in a video shared on social media.
“My knee is not there, where I would like [it] to be, and I am not ready to compete yet. But I will do everything possible to be there on court as soon as I can. What I miss the most is, of course, the tournament, the fans, and the atmosphere. I’ve had a great, great time in the past, winning the title also last year.
“I’m very disappointed that I cannot defend it this year, but I’m very happy to come back next year. So I wish everyone a very good tournament and I’ll see you all very soon on court again.”