Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner travelled to Shanghai together just hours after their China Open final.
Carlos Alcaraz has revealed it was “weird” to travel alongside Jannik Sinner mere hours after their epic China Open final – though claimed “tennis is different” in terms of player relationships.
Alcaraz and Sinner contested arguably one of the best ATP Tour matches of 2024 on Wednesday, with the Spaniard battling his way to a 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) victory in Beijing.
The match was a gruelling three-hour contest in which both men were pushed to the brink, though just hours later it was revealed that the two were heading to the Shanghai Masters together.
Simone Vagnozzi, a member of Sinner’s entourage, posted a picture on his Instagram story showing Alcaraz, the Italian and their respective camps travelling on the same private jet to the Masters 1000 event.
Some were surprised to see the current world No 1 and world No 2 together so quickly after a tense battle.
However, speaking to Tennis TV, Alcaraz claimed that players generally have a “really good relationship” off the court, meaning there was no issue in terms of travelling together.
He said: “It is weird, it’s a weird thing, but I think tennis is different than other sports because of it.
He said: “It is weird, it’s a weird thing, but I think tennis is different than other sports because of it.
“Because we are fighting against each other, three hour match, really close – he could win. At the end I got the win, and then two hours later we are in the same plane having some laughs, making jokes, talking about life and acting like nothing happened before.
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“Probably in other sports it could be impossible to do it, but I think [in] tennis we have a really good relationship off the court as well.
“Obviously, when we step on the court we always want to win, beat the opponent, but after that we have really good relationships with everyone so we can do it.”
Fresh off winning the 16th title of his career, Alcaraz will begin his Shanghai campaign against home favourite Jerry Shang this weekend, having received a round one bye at the Masters 1000 event.
The Spaniard will be hoping to better his run to the fourth round a year ago, where he was beaten by 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Meanwhile, Sinner will also be looking to improve on his fourth round showing from a year ago.
The world No 1 was beaten by Ben Shelton a year ago and could face the American in the last 16 again this year, though starts his title quest against Japan’s Taro Daniel.
Both will be looking for a first Shanghai title, with defending champion Hubert Hurkacz not in action this year due to injury.
