Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have defined men’s tennis across 2024 and 2025, yet the 2026 season has not given them enough chances to extend that rivalry on court.

The two leading players in the game have met only once this year, in the Monte Carlo Masters final. The Australian Open was the only Grand Slam both entered in 2026.

Alcaraz was sidelined from Roland Garros and Wimbledon because of a wrist injury. When he returned at the US Open, Sinner withdrew with a knee injury.

That pattern has prompted close attention to the ATP Tour, and Marion Bartoli has offered her view on why injuries have become such a concern this season.

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, the former Wimbledon champion said: “The problem is the surfaces are getting slower and slower, but the balls are extremely heavy.

“I understand that point of view, of course, but you have to take into consideration the health of the players, because without players, you have no tour.

“Whether they make the surface faster or they make the ball lighter, but one has to come back to what it was before, because at some point, if we keep losing Sinner, Alcaraz, and the rest of the field, I mean, we don’t have much to talk about.”

Before 2026, both players were rarely absent and they shared the last eight Grand Slams evenly across the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

In 2025, they met six times. Their clashes included finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open, along with meetings in the title matches at the Italian Open, the Cincinnati Open, and the ATP Finals.

Alcaraz ended that season with four wins, while Sinner had two. Their battles were a central force in the men’s game.

Sinner is now expected back at the China Open at the end of September, while Alcaraz has again chosen the Japan Open at the same time. The next realistic chance for the pair to meet on the ATP Tour is the Shanghai Masters, scheduled from October 5th to October 18th.

Novak Djokovic’s difficult 2026 run deepened at the US Open, where he suffered a first-round defeat in a Grand Slam for the first time since 2006. In New York, the Serbian went down in a five-set contest against Mariano Navone, a result that also made it three straight losses dating back to his Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner in July.

The setback followed another early exit at the Cincinnati Open, and it has pushed fresh attention toward what comes next for the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Djokovic has declined to discuss retirement and has long indicated that he does not plan to hang up his racket before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, but speculation around the end of his career continues to grow.

Boris Becker, who coached Djokovic from 2013 to 2016, offered his view on the situation in an interview with Sporteurope.tv. The former world No 1 said: “This can’t go on – it pains me deeply. He’s too big a superstar for that, so he’ll be thinking very carefully about what the future holds.

“He needs to think about the future. I have an idea, but I won’t say it on air; I’ll think about it a bit more. Eventually, it all comes to an end, and then the question is, where does one take that next step?” continued Becker.

Djokovic’s schedule still includes several events before the season ends. He is entered for the China Open at the end of September, a tournament he has not played since 2015, when he lifted the ATP 500 title. He has won the event six times and remains unbeaten in the Chinese capital, holding a 29-0 record ahead of the 2026 edition.

He will be joined in Beijing by Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Felix Auger-Aliassime. The tournament starts on September 30 and runs until October 11, with Sinner as the defending champion after beating Learner Tien in last year’s final.

Djokovic is also scheduled to appear at the Six Kings Slam in October, and he has suggested he may play the Hellenic Championships in November after winning the inaugural event in Athens last year.

The US Open has long separated itself from the other majors, and not only because of its size and atmosphere. It is one of the most heavily attended events on the calendar, with crowds that are often louder and more animated than those at the other Grand Slams.

It also stands apart through its ball policy. Unlike Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the Australian Open, the tournament uses different tennis balls for the men’s and women’s draws. The women use a more standard ball, while the men use a heavier duty version. That distinction has come back into focus this year because of Carlos Alcaraz’s wrist injury.

Alcaraz hurt his wrist at the Barcelona Open in April and the US Open is his first singles tournament since then. Discussing the issue on Sky Sports, Tim Henman explained why the event has maintained the rule.

“At Wimbledon they use the same ball. At the Australian Open, and all other tournaments they use the same ball.

“I think it’s somewhat unique to this event, but when they did use the same ball, I think it was a request from the WTA because the women used the extra duty felt and they didn’t like it so much so they went back to the normal ball.”

Naomi Broady, who appeared on the Sky Sports Tennis panel with Henman, said the issue could affect Alcaraz as he returns to competition.

“I think for me as well, does it intertwine with the conversation on the ATP Tour regarding the injuries and how many wrist injuries they have and should they be playing with a ball that is heavier? Would they be better of with a lighter ball?

“You’re then going to have shorter rallies because it’s harder to control, it’s going to move faster through the air, so there serves are going to be bigger, it’s going to be tougher to get returns and extend those longer rallies.

“But the way men’s tennis is going and how many injuries we’re seeing, I think it is a call from the players. Firstly to have a consistent ball used across the Tour. There are so many variables. Not only are tennis courts changing week to week, but the ball is as well.

“So some weeks the ball is going to fly faster through the air, sometimes it’s slower and you feel like it’s not leaving your strings. I think the request from the men is to stop using the really heavy balls, not to say the US Open is necessarily one of them, but it’s certainly heavier than the women’s and I don’t think it helps the likes of Alcaraz and the guys who have had those injuries.”

The subject has surfaced before. In 2022, at the Cincinnati Open, Iga Swiatek questioned the logic behind the difference.

“Fifteen years ago probably women had some elbow injuries because the balls were heavier and they changed them to women’s balls,” said the Pole.

“But right now we are so physically well prepared that I don’t think it would happen. I feel, it’s really hard to control them, but everybody has the same conditions, so we are trying to deal with that. I don’t get why they are different, honestly.”

The US Open changed the rule again in 2023, yet the debate has returned at Flushing Meadows.