Two years ago, on the eve of the Madrid Davis Cup Finals, I had the privilege of sharing a table with several former Spanish players, some as legendary as Manolo Santana and Manuel Orantes. They talked about many things. From the past, present and future of tennis. And among the coming names came that of a boy who was then 18 years old: Jannik Sinner. The Italian redhead had dazzled a few days earlier in las ATP Finals NextGen, where had surpassed Alex de Miñaur in the fight for the title. Since that date, with the irregular season of the pandemic in between, Sinner has won five titles of the ATP, four in the current campaign, one of them in category 500: Washington. He has also disputed the Miami Masters 1,000 final, which yielded against the prognosis to Hubert Hurkacz. This week he has released his status as top-10 in the world rankingHim: ninth. And he is fighting to get among the eight chosen who will contest the ATP Finals in Turin. At 20, Sinner is doing well.
In this course, another candidate to dominate tomorrow has burst in with force, even more forcefully: Carlos Alcaraz placeholder image. The Murcian looks the same age as the Italian when he began to shine: 18 years. The first clash between the two in a prestigious setting, the Masters 1,000 of Paris-Bercy, had aroused enormous interest, because Sinner and Alcaraz they starred the duel of the future, a match that, if the natural progression is fulfilled, will be repeated many times in the fight for the great titles. The confrontation did not disappoint, it showed the overflowing talent of the two … And Alcaraz took the victory 7-6, 7-5. Sinner es the third tennis player in the top-10 that falls this year before the Spanish, after Stefanos Tsitsipas (3rd) and Matteo Berrettini (7th). Carlos has taken a new bite out of the future.