Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have confirmed that they will play each other for the first time in 2026.
Sinner beat Alexander Zverev to book his place in the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time in his career.
After avoiding playing each other for the first three months of the season, Alcaraz then beat Valentin Vacherot to confirm that he would play Sinner for the first time this year.
Both the Monte Carlo Masters title and world number one ranking will be on the line, and three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud has reacted to a ‘crazy’ Alcaraz and Sinner statistic ahead of the final.
Casper Ruud reacts to ‘crazy’ Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner statistic
The Monte Carlo Masters will be the 17th meeting in the rivalry between Alcaraz and Sinner, which has included three Grand Slam finals.
Despite playing each other 16 times, Alcaraz and Sinner are exactly level in terms of points won.
So far, they have played a total of 3,302 points against each other, and Alcaraz and Sinner have won exactly 1,651 each.
There was a huge reaction to this statistic on social media, including from the aforementioned Ruud, who was forced to retire from his match at the Monte Carlo Masters earlier on in the week against Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Ruud wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Is this the craziest statistic of any sport right now? Would love to hear other crazy stats!”
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Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner Head-to-Head
Although Alcaraz and Sinner have won exactly the same amount of points against each other, their head-to-head in terms of wins is not equal.
From their 16 previous meetings, Alcaraz leads the head-to-head against Sinner 10-6.
This includes a streak where Alcaraz won five consecutive matches against Sinner, which culminated in the thrilling Roland Garros final last year where he saved three championship points.
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When this was pointed out to Ruud, he stated that this proves that the tennis scoring system is ‘genius’.
Ruud added, “Just goes to show how crazy and genius tennis and its scoring system is.”
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2021 | Paris Masters (R32) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 7-6(1) 7-5 |
| 2022 | Wimbledon (R16) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 6-1 6-4 6(8)-7 6-3 |
| 2022 | Croatia Open (F) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 6(5)-7 6-1 6-1 |
| 2022 | US Open (QF) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 6-3 6(7)-7 6(0)-7 7-5 6-3 |
| 2023 | Indian Wells (SF) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 7-6(4) 6-3 |
| 2023 | Miami Open (SF) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 6(4)-7 6-4 6-2 |
| 2023 | China Open (SF) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 7-6(4) 6-1 |
| 2024 | Indian Wells (SF) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 1-6 6-3 6-2 |
| 2024 | Roland Garros (SF) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 2-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3 |
| 2024 | China Open (F) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 6(6)-7 6-4 7-6(3) |
| 2025 | Italian Open (F) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 7-6(5) 6-1 |
| 2025 | Roland Garros (F) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 4-6 6(4)-7 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2) |
| 2025 | Wimbledon (F) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 |
| 2025 | Cincinnati Open (F) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 5-0 (Sinner retired) |
| 2025 | US Open (F) | Alcaraz beat Sinner, 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 |
| 2025 | ATP Finals (F) | Sinner beat Alcaraz, 7-6(4) 7-5 |
Alcaraz has played four matches against Sinner on clay, winning three of those four matches, with his only loss coming in the final of the Croatia Open in 2022.
They will go head-to-head once again in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday, April 12, at 3pm local time, with the winner being awarded the world number one ranking as well as the title.
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