Sinner defeated Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 to win the exhibition tournament in Riyadh and earn a staggering $6 million — the highest prize money cheque in tennis history.
The world No 1 lost the opening set on a tiebreak after seeing a 4-1 lead advantage disappear, but he broke Alcaraz three times in the second set and once in the third en route to a convincing victory.
The Italian star’s win will not count towards his ATP head-to-head record with his Spanish rival given it was an exhibition contest.
Alcaraz holds a 6-4 record against Sinner having won all three of the pair’s official encounters in 2024.In an on-court interview after the final, Alcaraz was asked how he feels his rivalry with Sinner will progress.
“I will practise and try as hard as I can,” the 21-year-old said. “I’m sure Jannik is gonna be there. I’ll try to do my best every day during the years. Hopefully it makes this rivalry better and better over the years.
“I want to say I’m grateful to have him around on tour. Thanks to him I push myself to the limit. I give my 100% every day to be a better player.
“It’s a pleasure every time I share the court with him. Sometimes it’s tough to find the joy. But it’s great every time I face him.”
Sinner revealed he wakes up thinking about how he can get the better of Alcaraz and expressed that the pair share a friendship.
“It’s a mix of everything. As Carlos said, we try to push ourselves to the limit. I wake up in the morning trying to understand the ways to beat him,” the 23-year-old said.
“These kind of rivalries and players push us to our 100% limit. I’m happy about this today. But the reason we came here was to show all of you what tennis is about. It can be long sometimes, like today. But we just try our best. Hopefully you enjoyed the show.
“We understand each other. We travel a lot. I would say we are good friends. Not the best out of the best. But we like to share every time when we go on court. We try to enjoy.
“Every match has been very, very good. Hopefully this rivalry will last as long as possible. But there are so many other players who can jump in. Let’s see what’s coming in the future.”
