Javier Sanchez

Updated Friday, March 15, 2024-22:53

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There are hardly any images of that match;

the photos taken by the 20 or 30 spectators and little else.

On April 2, 2019, a 15-year-old Spaniard made his ATP debut as a guest in the Alicante challenger and fate paired him in the first round with a 17-year-old Italian who was on a roll, with three titles in a row and 16 consecutive victories.

Wonders were already proclaimed about both, but all the predictions fell short.

This Saturday (not before 9:30 p.m., Movistar+) both face each other in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 with number two in the world ranking at stake.

The Spanish was

Carlos Alcaraz

, the Italian was

Jannik Sinner

, that initial duel was won by the first 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and the reaction of both was exemplary.

Alcaraz could have been upset by his victory, but he did not do it;

Sinner could have been angry at the boy's boldness, but he didn't.

What did you do?

They struck up a friendship that still lasts today, despite the fact that the two argue at the top of tennis.

Last Christmas, in fact, Sinner was in Villena in another sign of his closeness.

In a strange decision in the elite, the Italian decided to travel to Alicante with one of his coaches, Simone Vagnozzi, and organize a preseason ministage with Alcaraz and his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Little was known about their sessions, but there was evidence on Instagram of the good vibes between the two.

«Right now Jannik is the best in the world.

Like

Tommy Paul

said , he's playing naked.

"He has shown an incredible level, without defeats in 2024. I really enjoy watching him play," Alcaraz acknowledged in California after beating Alexander Zverev

in the quarterfinals

6-3, 6-1 in a match marked by an invasion of bees.

«It is always fun to play against Carlos.

We are good friends off the court.

On the court, we just try to give 100%," added Sinner, defeating

Jiri Lehecka

by a double 6-3.

Every two games

Since that children's game in Alicante, the rivalry between Spanish and Italian has been marked by turnism.

In their first confrontation on the big stages, in the second round of the 2021 Paris Masters 1000, Alcaraz also won, but then they alternated exactly: two victories for Sinner, two for Alcaraz and finally, the last two, for new for Sinner.

They know each other so much, they study each other so much, that their matches are usually clearly dominated by one of them, the one who gets the strategy most right.

Only in the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open and in the last semifinals in Miami were there one-on-one duels, fought until the end.

Sinner's current streak elevates him to favorite, but Alcaraz's level in this Indian Wells Masters 1000 is exquisite and any prediction is risky.