Carlos Alcaraz on “Living the Dream Life” and His Rivalry With Jannik Sinner

Those reservations have been blown up by the bombastic presence of Alcaraz combined with Sinner’s stoicism, a synergy seen in full force at Roland Garros last year.

It was the first time they met at a major final. Sinner was ranked first and Alcaraz second and the defending champion. Alcaraz lost the first two sets but recovered in the third, and he and Sinner delivered what has been widely discussed as some of the most riveting tennis play in history in the last two, which the Spaniard also won. At 5 hours and 29 minutes, it is the longest French Open final of all time.

“It is, on record, one of the greatest matches ever,” Lee tells me. He recalls sitting courtside right where players leave their towels, so after every point Alcaraz would come over and Lee would, in his words, “pump him up.”

“Look, I’m a sports fan and a New Yorker, so I’m going to be loud and cheer for my guy.” Lee laughs. “And as it got tighter, I got louder.” After the match, Lee gave Alcaraz his Yankees hat.

Alcaraz likes to keep the tension with Sinner within the match. “We’re showing the world that we can be on court and give our best, and try to do the most possible damage to the other while playing, try to beat each other, and then, off court, just be two guys who get along really well,” he says. “We help each other give our best.” There is, as Alcaraz says, no bad blood. “We are fighting for the same goal, but there’s no need to hate each other because we want the same thing.” That said, “when you are competing at this level, having a close friendship is complicated,” he says. “It can be done,” he clarifies. “I’m all for it.”

Sincaraz has been great for tennis and for tennis fandom, but Alcaraz wants to manage expectations.

Rivalries are “long processes,” he says. “It’s not comparable to the historic rivalries that have happened in tennis, because we both have so many years ahead. Hopefully, we will continue playing against each other many times, at many finals, and that we will split the greatest tournaments.”

Alcaraz is one of tennis’s most decorated players today, but he is also becoming a pop culture obsession due to both his magnetism on the court and also to the fact that he is, objectively, very attractive.