Sinner discusses Alcaraz's Madrid Open absence with Flashscore

[p]Based on his recent results, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sinner-jannik/6HdC3z4H/"]Sinner[/a] arrives at the Masters 1000 in the Spanish capital as the clear favourite to win the title, which would further cement his position at the top of the ATP rankings.[/p][p]Another factor that could work in the Italian's favor is the absence of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alcaraz-garfia-carlos/UkhgIFEq/"]Carlos Alcaraz[/a] for the second year in a row, with his rival missing the tournament through injury.[/p][p]Flashscore asked Sinner whether it would be easier to win without the Spaniard in the draw, and the Monte Carlo champion gave us a detailed answer.[/p][p][b]"It's definitely a tough blow for the tournament. He didn't play last year either, so two years in a row is hard. And with Novak out as well, it's also tough for the tournament to accept. It's always different when Carlos and Novak aren't in the draw," [/b]the Italian began.[/p][embed guid="97ff3bac-143d-4757-b76c-9a1883dad05a" url="https://x.com/pelusa10thb/status/2046557251566002284?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]However, he was keen to point out that there are always many hurdles to overcome before he faces Alcaraz at tournaments anyway: "[b]I'd say it's quite unique, because we've played a lot of tournaments together since last year. But again, in my mind, I also know that if I want to play against Carlos, it would be in the final, and the road to the final is very long..."[/b][/p][p][b]"We take it day by day, and I have tough challenges ahead. Starting from the first day against a qualifier who has already won a couple of rounds here, which is really good. And then we'll see."[/b][/p][p]Finally, he made a reference to the very different conditions on the clay at the Madrid Open compared to other clay tournaments: "I'm happy to be here. I'm just trying to figure out how to play here, on this Madrid surface."[/p]