The beginning of the 2026 Australian Open is just days away, and Carlos Alcaraz will be trying to win his first title in Melbourne. He has won every other major except the Aussie Open. His greatest rival, Jannik Sinner, has won the major twice.
In other words, Alcaraz will likely be extra motivated to take home the Grand Slam title he never won, and, in doing so, would accomplish winning a career Grand Slam at only 22 years old. He has already won the other three majors twice each.
Many tennis fans probably assume the men's final will feature Alcaraz versus Sinner because that is what everyone has become accustomed to. If they play in the same tournament, they likely will be the last two players standing.
One former player discusses whether they would have wanted to play Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner
In terms of how other players feel about facing either one, however, a former ATP No. 31 believes players would rather take on Alcaraz than Sinner. This is what Leif Shiras said on a recent episode of the Inside-In podcast.
"I’d probably want to play Alcaraz because he might make a few mistakes," Shiras said. "He might make a few bad decisions. Kind of like in the day. Do you want to play Rod Laver or Ken Rosewall? You know, you wanted to play Laver because Rosewall would never miss a ball and never give you anything the entire match. Laver could have a bad day, miss a few balls. I think the same way of Alcaraz, although he is one of the all-time greats, but I’d much rather play Alcaraz."
Of course, many other players (both former and current) might feel completely differently. While Sinner lost only twice to players in 2025 not named Carlos Alcaraz (a third loss was when he withdrew at the Shanghai Masters), Alcaraz lost to many other players besides Sinner.
Still, the Spaniard finished the year at No. 1 and will obviously begin 2026 the same way. Should he take the Australian Open title from Jannik Sinner, who has won the event in each of the past two years, Alcaraz will further extend his points lead.
Sinner could have a chance to make up quite a few points between February and May, though. In 2025, the Italian was suspended for three months. Should he be successful at events such as Indian Wells and the Miami Open (both Masters tournaments), Sinner could make up the point difference quickly.
Ultimately, though, likely no player wants to face Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner as each is bound to defeat anyone they play, except each other. 2026 might be much like the last two years when it comes to Grand Slams, with the two players simply splitting who wins what.