"I'm just a player": Jannik Sinner responds to Roger Federer's court-tempering accusation to ensure tournament finals with Carlos Alcaraz

Italy’s Jannik Sinner has responded to former world number one Roger Federer’s accusations on tournament directors about tempering the surfaces to ensure a final between particular players. Federer, who is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category, having won as many as 20 Grand Slam titles, accused the tournament directors of slowing the surfaces down to ensure a final between Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

The claim came after Sinner and Alcaraz faced each other in five consecutive finals in competitions where they featured together in 2025. Sinner and Alcaraz have been dominating men’s tennis since the start of 2024. This year, both Alcaraz and Sinner won two major titles each. Interestingly, these two players met in the final of three out of the four Grand Slams as well.

In the final of the French Open, it was Alcaraz who came out on top in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. The game lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slams in the Open era. At Wimbledon, it was Sinner who managed to get the better of Alcaraz and came out on top with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Recently at the US Open, it was once again the Spaniard who emerged victorious in the final against Sinner with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. These two faced off in the final of the Rome Open, where Alcaraz defeated Sinner. The two met up once again in the final of the Cincinnati Open, where Sinner was forced to retire because of a fitness concern.

Federer was quoted in a report by Italian media outlet Corriere Della Sera, where he made those controversial remarks. “I understand the tournament directors who, based on their instructions, try to make the courts slower,” said Federer. “This benefits those who need to hit extraordinary winners to beat Sinner, because, if the court is fast, they might only need a couple of well-timed shots to win. Tournament directors think: ‘I’d rather have Sinner and Alcaraz in the final, you know?’ In a way, it works for tennis.”

Sinner, who is currently in Beijing and is set to begin his campaign with the match against the former US Open winner Marin Cilic, spoke to the media before the tournament opener, where he was asked about those comments made by Federer. In response to that, Sinner stated that he is ‘just a player’ whose job is to adjust himself to the best of his ability to succeed. "We have more or less similar game situations on the court, yes. This is how it is already since a long time," said Sinner. "I don't know if there is going to be a change or not. I'm just a player who tries to adapt myself in the best possible way."

Sinner will be playing his first match after suffering a thumping defeat in New York, which ended his nearly two-year winless streak in the Grand Slams on the hard courts. After losing at the US Open final, Sinner admitted that he will try to change certain things going forward, as, according to him, he was too predictable against Alcaraz, who looked unstoppable on the day.

Sinner spoke about those changes during the media talk and hinted that he will try and do certain things differently. Sinner also stated that he expects himself to make more mistakes while changing his game plan but remains optimistic that his consistency will increase in the near future. "We've been reflecting a lot," said Sinner. "We are changing a lot of small things where I'm thinking of now. The amount of mistakes at the moment is for sure a little bit higher, but I hope that this after recovers in a very positive way.”