Carlos Alcaraz got his Monte Carlo Masters title defence off to the perfect start earlier this week, ensuring he was not outdone by his great rival Jannik Sinner.
After all, both delivered exceptional, near-faultless performances to cruise through their opening-round matches and move within one step closer to giving fans their first direct showdown of the year.
The bulk of the talk involving these two at the moment surrounds the expectation that Sinner will soon retake the world number one spot from Alcaraz, with no points to defend in the coming months.
However, in his recent press conference, it was the 22-year-old who was made to feel like the one who had missed almost all of the clay-court season in 2025 rather than Jannik Sinner.
Carlos Alcaraz’s clay-court prediction about Jannik Sinner
The question began by once again framing their already legendary relationship and their ability to push one another to even greater heights.
However, it was the final statement that raised eyebrows, as the reporter asked: “When you look at what Jannik did last year on clay, does that make you feel all you need to go a step up on clay this year?”
Carlos Alcaraz concedes Jannik Sinner will become world number one!
Will it happen this week in Monte Carlo?
Given it was Carlos Alcaraz who dominated the clay-court season in 2025, whilst Sinner was forced to serve a three-month ban, this notion was baffling.
Alas, the world number one offered a measured response: “Well, I know Jannik and we all could see that he always comes back even stronger and even better when he lose matches and I’m pretty sure he’s looking back to the tournaments he played on the clay last year, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be better this year.
“So I just gotta be ready for that.
“I would say he feels more [comfortable] on hard courts, and I feel more natural on clay, because I just grew up playing on clay my whole life. So let’s see how it’s going to be.
“But I would say he’s hungry for everything on clay. I would say that it is the tournaments that he missed, let’s see how it’s gonna be, but for sure for him, and for me, obviously it’s gonna be quite an interesting clay season ahead.”
Carlos Alcaraz does not need to be scared of Jannik Sinner’s 2025 clay season
The framing of this particular question has drawn confusion from those who have heard it, given how Alcaraz performed during the 2025 clay season.
Especially considering Sinner missed all but two events on this surface due to his three-month ban.
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Whilst he was forced to watch from the sidelines, the Spaniard won the Monte Carlo Masters title and reached the final in Barcelona, before withdrawing from Madrid.
Then, even when Sinner returned, Alcaraz was the man to beat him in the final of both the Italian Open and Roland Garros.
He has nothing to prove, and it’s strange that the question was framed as if it were the Italian who had dominated the clay in 2025.