The best current rivalry in tennis will add another chapter–its first in 2025–when Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz clash for the 11th time in their careers in the final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head series 6-4 and has won three straight against Sinner, coming out on top in all three of their 2024 meetings–all of which went the distance. The Italian prevailed in three sets at in Indian Wells, in five sets at the French Open, and in a third-set tiebreaker at the ATP 500 in Beijing 500.
Still, those results are no reason for Sinner to be discouraged. This matchup could hardly be any more competitive, plus he is 1-1 all time against Alcaraz on clay after prevailing 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-1 at the 2022 Umag tournament. More importantly, Sinner heads into Sunday’s contest as by far the best player in the world. He is atop the rankings with a ton of room to spare even though he just missed three months due to suspension. The 23-year-old remains undefeated in 2025 with a title at the Australian Open and Rome victories over Mariano Navone, Jesper de Jong, Francisco Cerundolo, Casper Ruud, and Tommy Paul, dropping just one set to Paul along the way.
This is Alcaraz’s third clay-court event in 2025 and his third clay-court final. The 22-year-old triumphed in Monte-Carlo (d. Lorenzo Musetti) before finishing runner-up in Barcelona (l. to Holger Rune). He missed Madrid due to a leg injury but has rebounded in Rome by beating Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere, Karen Khachanov, Jack Draper, and Musetti.
Sinner is somewhat of a question mark after looking less than 100 percent physically during a three-set victory over Tommy Paul on semifinal Friday. However, a day off should be useful. If he is healthy, it’s almost impossible to pick against Sinner given his current form and his home-court advantage.
Pick: Sinner in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.