Andy Roddick explains what some people are getting badly wrong about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are enjoying a fierce rivalry on the court, but that is where the tension ends.

ATP rivals Sinner and Alcaraz are good friends, despite constantly pushing each other to the limit in recent years.

Alcaraz has lost his number one ranking to Sinner heading into the ATP Finals, where both players will be fighting for the trophy.

The switch comes after the conclusion of the Paris Masters, where Sinner claimed his fifth ATP title of the season.

He remains behind Alcaraz, who has eight in 2025, but the momentum is very much with the Italian as the season nears its end.

Andy Roddick explains what people are getting wrong about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Their dynamic has now been discussed by former world number one Andy Roddick, who explained on his Served podcast: “As we talk about different personalities in tennis, I think you get exposure to the way that certain brains, minds and brilliant players handle the end of the year a little bit differently.

“Carlos with the US Open and that all-time performance against Jannik. And this is judging Carlos against his own shadow, which has proven to be enormous, but the end of the year [he] seems to kind of have a hard time finishing the year.

“He is a guy who relies on electricity from the crowd, he likes the atmosphere, he likes the show, he likes being an entertainer.

“Then you get to this part of the season where you are outside for four minutes of daylight every day. You are walking into the venue and it’s light and you are walking out of the venue and every place you are playing is dark at 4:15pm.

“It feels like Sinner is maybe better suited personality-wise to go in and get the job done and leave, whereas Carlos maybe needs to get inspired a little bit more. Maybe that’s a reach, I don’t know.

“But also I don’t think it’s nothing the fact that Carlos has admittedly said I am beat up, I am mentally exhausted, it’s a long season. Whereas you are not hearing that as much from Sinner.

“Then people are like there’s a big difference between the two. But I’m going or one had three months off during the year!”

Who has the momentum between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner for the ATP Finals?

Sinner did indeed miss three months of the season due to suspension, which he underwent immediately after winning the Australian Open.

The Wimbledon trophy also went his way, while his fierce rival Alcaraz won the French Open and the US Open.

READ MORE: Nick Kyrgios predicts if Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will reach the same level as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal

And the venue of their latest event is certain to play a major role in who will ultimately emerge victorious, with Sinner playing in front of his home crowd.

He will be full of confidence after winning the 2024 ATP Finals, but his biggest boost is likely to arrive from the huge support he can expect in Turin.

There is, however, the small matter of their history on the court that could work in the favor of the Spaniard.

Alcaraz boasts a 10-5 win-loss record over Sinner, and has won four of their five meetings this season, which should do his confidence the world of good ahead of another potential match.