“It works for tennis”: Roger Federer claims tournament directors are pushing to slow down courts to ensure Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner final

Former world number one Roger Federer has made an interesting claim about the rivalry between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Italy’s Jannik Sinner. The men’s tennis has been dominated by two players in the last 24 months, Alcaraz and Sinner. Both players have shared the last eight Grand Slams, each winning four of them.

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. Interestingly, both players have faced each other in the finals of each of the last five competitions in which they both participated.

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. Former world number one Federer has now made an interesting claim about the rivalry between Alcaraz and Sinner.

Federer, who is known as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 20 Grand Slam titles, has recently been quoted in a report by Italian media outlet Corriere Della Sera, stated that in his opinion, the courts are being slowed intentionally to ensure that the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner reaches the final of the competition every single time. Federer stated that tournament directors would prefer a final between the top two players every time as it ‘works for tennis’.

“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.”

Those comments came as a surprise, especially from someone who had enjoyed one of the greatest rivalries with another former world number one, Rafael Nadal. The two faced off 40 times at the highest level, where Federer won 16 and Nadal emerged victorious on 24 occasions. Later in the conversation, though, Federer was full of Alcaraz and Sinner and believes that their emerging rivalry is ‘extraordinary’ for tennis.

Federer stated that people who are associated with tennis always knew about the exceptional talent that players like Alcaraz and Sinner possess, but what took them by surprise is seeing them dominate men’s tennis so early in their careers. Federer also stated that Alcaraz and Sinner are making it ‘look easy’ to qualify for the final every Grand Slam but having done that himself, he claimed it was not easy at all.

"I think it's [Alcaraz and Sinner rivalry] extraordinary for tennis,” said Federer. “In my opinion, we all knew they were very good, but we probably didn't expect them to dominate like this from the start. I have to admit, it's really impressive: but also fantastic for the game. At the same time, though, I wonder how long they can continue like this: they make it look easy, but I've been there and it's actually tough."