Jannik Sinner recently responded to Roger Federer’s claims that Grand Slam tournament organisers are manipulating court surfaces to ensure finals between him and Carlos Alcaraz, tennis’s current top two stars. Federer, during an appearance on Andy Roddick’s show, suggested that slowing down hard courts favors players like Sinner and Alcaraz, making it significantly harder for others to upset them.
According to Federer, this benefits tournament directors by guaranteeing marquee matchups in the finals, which is also good for the sport’s popularity.
Sinner, when asked about these comments ahead of the China Open, downplayed the notion of widespread manipulation. He explained that most hard court surfaces feel rather similar to him, with only minor differences from event to event. Sinner cited Indian Wells as an example where the court and ball behave a bit differently, with a higher bounce, but otherwise described the tour’s conditions as mostly consistent.
The rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz continues to dominate men’s tennis, with the two sharing the last eight Grand Slam singles trophies and meeting in the last three major finals. Sinner, who held the No.1 ranking for much of 2025 before losing it to Alcaraz after the US Open, says he focuses simply on adapting his game to whatever conditions he faces, rather than worrying about court speeds or conspiracies surrounding them.
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