{"id":1777561,"date":"2026-02-18T10:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1777561"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:00:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:00:40","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-describes-atp-rivals-game-as-annoying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1777561","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz describes ATP rival&#8217;s game as &#8216;annoying&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Carlos Alcaraz describes ATP rival\u2019s game as \u2018annoying\u2019<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"18 Feb 2026 10:00 AM\" data-ps-date=\"18 Feb 2026 10:00 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771408840\"><br \/>\n                            18 Feb 2026 10:00 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/atp-tour\/carlos-alcaraz-describes-atp-rivals-game-as-annoying\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Fatp-tour%2Fcarlos-alcaraz-describes-atp-rivals-game-as-annoying\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to twitter\"><\/p>\n<p>                        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items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a class=\"!text-share-icon hover:!text-share-icon-active flex items-center justify-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" aria-label=\"Follow Tennis365 on Google Search\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Carlos Alcaraz describes ATP rival\u2019s game as \u2018annoying\u2019\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Carlos-Alcaraz-with-inset-of-Arthur-Rinderknech-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Carlos Alcaraz with inset of Arthur Rinderknech\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Carlos Alcaraz with Arthur Rinderknech inset                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Carlos Alcaraz started his Dubai campaign with a comfortable win over Arthur Rinderknech and afterwards he admitted that he finds the French No 1\u2019s game \u201cannoying\u201d while he also discussed the prospect of a final against Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-australian-open-win-strong-defiant-message\">winning his seventh Grand Slam title<\/a> with victory over Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/carlos-alcaraz\">Alcaraz<\/a> claimed a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over Rinderknech to take his unbeaten run to eight matches.<\/p>\n<p>The win \u2013 his 150th victory on hard courts \u2013 helped him to extend his H2H record against the Frenchman to 5-0, but the world No 1 admits playing against the 6\u20195\u201d Rinderknech is \u201cannoying\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think all our matches are always really tight. I\u2019m going to say it\u2019s just about the tennis. Every match that I played against him it was all about the tennis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he has a really, I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m going to say an annoying game. Because, I mean, with the serve, trying to go all the time to the net.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s really big, you know, and then in the net he covered a lot of the court, so it\u2019s really difficult when he comes to the net making the passing shot. His ball is coming really flat, so sometimes really difficult to control the ball.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a lot of things that make his game really difficult to play against and control the situation. So it feels like you got to run, you got to defend well if you want to have opportunities against him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think every match that I played against him I defend pretty well, I just make great passing shots, and the serve is a great weapon. So just happy that I was able to do it, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s really, or at least for me, really difficult every time that I play against him.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>ATP News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-jannik-sinner-qatar-open-appearance-fees-2026-revealed\">Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner\u2019s eye-watering Qatar Open appearance fees revealed<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/qatar-open-how-jannik-sinner-can-close-gap-carlos-alcaraz-world-no-1-battle\"><strong>Qatar Open: How Jannik Sinner can close gap to Carlos Alcaraz in world No 1 battle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Few would bet against an<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/atp-qatar-open-predictions-can-anyone-stop-a-carlos-alcaraz-vs-jannik-sinner-final\"> Alcaraz-Sinner final<\/a> as the pair met in six ATP finals in 2025 and the former is hoping for their first \u201creunion\u201d of the 2026 campaign at the ATP 500 event in Dubai.<\/p>\n<p>After facing each other in three consecutive Grand Slam finals last year, many expected the top two players in men\u2019s tennis would meet again at the Australian Open final, but Djokovic denied them a dream match as he defeated Sinner in the semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>With both taking time off after the hard-court major, they will get another opportunity at the Dubai Tennis Championships, but they can once again only meet in the final as they are on opposite sides of the draw.<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz admits that having his big rival feature at the same event motivates him, saying: \u201cWell, in the end, I think having Jannik in the draw is always good. You always want to keep pace. Hopefully, we can reach a final.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think those are the moments you work for, to reach the final rounds, whoever it is. But obviously, I\u2019m not going to lie, when Jannik is in the draw, you feel it\u2019s much more likely that I\u2019ll reach the final rounds. That motivates me to play my best, that motivates me to take it one day at a time and try to see my name in that final.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alcaraz won four of their finals last year, including the French Open and US Open, while Sinner won at Wimbledon and their most recent encounter at the ATP Finals last November.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the seven-time Grand Slam winner has a 10-6 advantage in their head-to-head rivalry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carlos Alcaraz describes ATP rival\u2019s game as \u2018annoying\u2019 Shahida Jacobs 18 Feb 2026 10:00 AM Carlos Alcaraz with Arthur Rinderknech inset Carlos Alcaraz started his Dubai campaign with a comfortable win over Arthur Rinderknech and afterwards he admitted that he finds the French No 1\u2019s game \u201cannoying\u201d while he also discussed the prospect of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1777561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1777561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1777561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1777561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1777561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1777561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}