Carlos Alcaraz praised for having two skills like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer just before defeat to Jannik Sinner

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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner renewed their rivalry at the Six Kings Slam, where the Italian got the better of the Spaniard once more.

Sinner defeated Alcaraz in the final of the Six Kings Slam in 2024, and has now done the same in Riyadh this week.

Alcaraz said Sinner was ‘too good’ in their latest encounter, where the latter battled past the former to win 6-2, 6-4.

Both players will now turn their focus back to the ATP Tour, with Sinner already returning at the Vienna Open.

He has been drawn to face Daniel Altmaier in his opening match, with qualifying for the ATP 500 event currently underway.

Carlos Alcaraz praised for having two skills like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

Alcaraz is not in the field for the Vienna Open or the Swiss Indoors Basel this week, but is expected to take on the ATP Masters 1000 Paris later this month.

The world number one has been catching the eye of many this season, including Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci.

READ MORE: Sam Querrey says if he thinks Jannik Sinner has any chance of beating Carlos Alcaraz to the year-end number one ranking

He took to X to share a verdict on the Spaniard before he met Sinner in Riyadh, writing: “Alcaraz has the true heavy ball like Rafa [Nadal]. He has the surgical skills like Fed (Roger Federer).

“The timing off the ground like [Andre] Agassi. The elasticity like the Joker (Novak Djokovic). The mindset of a Broadway performer. And most of all gratitude from his parents.”

Can Carlos Alcaraz emulate tennis greats like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal?

It’s quite the praise for Alcaraz, who really is well on his way to emulating the greats that Macci mentioned.

At the age of just 22, he has managed to climb to number one in the world rankings, and boasts a huge 24 ATP titles.

Six of those titles have arrived at Grand Slam level, while Sinner denied him another Wimbledon success earlier this year.

Whether or not he can continue on his current trajectory remains to be seen, but he can certainly match the aforementioned legendary figures if he can maintain his very high standards.

Very likely standing in the way, however, will be Sinner, who is undoubtedly Alcaraz’s main rival on the ATP Tour.

The duo have already played out several exciting battles despite their relatively brief careers so far, and it will be intriguing to see which player ends up with more titles.

Aged 24, Sinner currently has 21 titles to his name, with the Italian having won four of his six Grand Slam finals, compared to Alcaraz’s six from seven.