Sinner-Alcaraz to Sabalenka- Swiatek: In the rivalry of things

The top two players, in men and women, are in a class of their own in tennis as the year's first slam starts

- Ashish Magotra

To elevate the players and the sport, tennis needs rivalries.

But finding a rivalry isn't easy because in essence you need to discover players who, despite winning and losing, will keep growing together and that can, at times, seem like defying the laws of probability.

But when it does come together, few things are as special. Fans pick a side, they have something to root for... they have a stake in what they are watching unfold on the court. It makes things personal and ensures you aren't just doom scrolling through the match. Rather, you are intently watching for signs, doing a deep dive into strategy and sometimes even employing superstition to do the job for your favourite.

In men's tennis, it wasn't so far back that fans were doing that. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic gave tennis a tribal feel for roughly two decades and most didn't quite think that the void of their rivalry will be filled quite as quickly as it has been.

In Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, men's tennis has two players who are getting better every year and learning from each other. They already seem to be playing at a level higher than everyone else on the tour and if 2025 was any indication, beginning with the Australian Open, we are all set for a scorching 2026.