Alcaraz on Sinner: "When you face the best player in the world, you have to do something different".

Carlos Alcaraz is about to launch his year 2025. The world number 3 will be doing his utmost to win the only Grand Slam he has yet to win in Melbourne.

To do so, he'll need to play a perfect tournament and probably thwart the plans of Jannik Sinner, the undisputed world number 1 and defending champion.

However, the Spaniard has the recipe for success against the Italian, having won all three meetings between the two players in 2024.

Interviewed in the pre-tournament press conference, the 21-year-old talked about his rivalry with Sinner and how it changes his approach to this match.

"When I play against Jannik, I have a different mindset. When you play against the best player in the world, you have to do something different.

The preparation isn't the same, and neither is the mentality. When I have to play him, I know I have to play my best tennis if I want to have a chance of winning.

If you have a bad day against Jannik, you have a 99% chance of losing, and that's what I tell myself every time we play each other.

The good thing for me is that when I see him winning titles and being at the top of the rankings, it forces me to train even harder every day.

In training, I just think about what I need to improve to be ready to play against him. The fact that he's here, that we've shared this rivalry up until now... I can only give my best every day", he assures us.