Carlos Alcaraz drew first blood in his thrilling rivalry with Jannik Sinner in 2026 by emerging a 7-5 7-6 (6) winner in the Hyundai Card Super Match in South Korea.
The world's top two players took part in the hard court exhibition contest rather than compete in any official warm-up tournaments ahead of the Australian Open, which begins on 18 January.
It produced two entertaining and close sets at Inspire Arena, Incheon, with Alcaraz holding his nerve at key moments to build on his control of last year’s rivalry when he won four of their six meetings.
The match was interrupted in the fifth game of the second set when world number one Alcaraz engaged in a rally with a young fan, who was temporarily given Sinner’s racket by the Italian.
Sinner sat in the fan’s seat and watched his replacement hit a forehand winner that registered deuce, although it did not stop Alcaraz winning the game and going on to close out the match by taking the tie break 7-5.
Sinner is the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, while Alcaraz holds the French Open and US Open titles.
The pair met in three Grand Slam finals in 2025.
