Tennis News: Carlos Alcaraz changes plans, Jannik Sinner wins another award
- Carlos Alcaraz changes plans because of Jack Draper
- Jannik Sinner wins an award
By Lee Vowell
We are in the in-between days of tennis. 2024 is done, except for any exhibitions and the Next Gen ATP Finals, and the 2025 season begins at the very end of the month. What is there to talk about for tennis fans? Plenty.
For one, Carlos Alcaraz needed to find at least one more practice partner than he thought he might. The Spaniard was set to get a little help (and do a little help in return) from Jack Draper at Juan Carlos Ferrero's tennis academy in Villena, Spain. The Brit was forced to miss out on the sessions, though, because of a "physical mishap," according to Marca.
That meant Alcaraz was forced to practice solely with Italian Flavio Cobolli, who is just finding his way in tennis. Oddly, Cobolli is one year older than four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz. The practice is likely to help the Italian more than the Spaniard because playing against someone who is better than a player mostly only improves the lesser player.
Carlos Alcaraz loses a practice partner and Jannik Sinner wins another award
Not that Alcaraz needs all that much help. Does he need to take fewer risks when playing in high-stress points during a match? Yes. But he still has more than enough to get through most matches and defeat most players.
One player that Alcaraz will probably be in competition with over the next decade is Jannik Sinner. The Italian finished as the year-end No. 1 and was the most consistently successful player on the ATP tour in 2024. He won two Grand Slams as well as the ATP Finals. He also defeated Alcaraz at the Six Kings Slam exhibition in October.
Sinner also picked up yet another award recently, too. He was given the ATP Fans' Favorite Award for the second straight year, something Alcaraz has yet to win. In fact, while Sinner has won the award in the last two years, and Rafael Nadal won it in 2022, Roger Federer won the honor every year between 2003 and 2021. In other words, maybe the award is rigged a bit.
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