Sinner and Alcaraz open 2026 with a four million euro challenge in Seoul

The 2026 calendar presents some novelties, including seven ATP Masters 1000 tournaments out of nine that will adopt the maxi format of 12 days and 96 players (instead of 56), namely Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, Montreal/Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai (while Paris and Monte Carlo remain with the reduced format).

Among the novelties, there will be the return of the Estoril stage (Atp 250 in July) and the moving of the ATP 250 tournaments in Marseille (from February to October) and Stockholm (from October to November), while the one in Metz will not be held.

Italy will host one of the Masters 1000 (the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome), the ATP Finals in Turin and the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna.

In order to meet the needs of tennis players, the Atp, which organises the circuit, has introduced some changes reducing the number of compulsory tournaments that must be played each year and the maximum number of events used to calculate ranking points dropping from 19 to 18 (results obtained in the week between the Paris Masters and the Nitto Atp Finals will now count towards the Pif Atp Live Race to Turin the following year).

La conferenza stampa

epa12637508 Jannik Sinner (sx) e Carlos Alcaraz a Seul il 9 gennaio 2026 . EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN

From this year, therefore, the top 30 Atp players will be obliged, barring injury, to participate in the four Grand Slam tournaments, the nine Masters 1000, the Atp Finals (if they qualify) and four Atp 500 events, and no longer five.

The Atp's aim in the medium to long term is to focus on the premium product represented by the Masters 1000. To the current 9 from 2028 will be added in February, a 1000 tournament in Saudi Arabia resulting from a mega-agreement with the sovereign wealth fund Pif.

While the 250 tournaments, which have already fallen in recent years from 38 to 29, will be reduced.

Tennis, as ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi explained, still gets little from media rights and much more from ticketing. Over 50-60% of revenues come from tickets. The formula of extended Masters with larger venues is paying off.

'Through the profit-sharing formula resulting from the agreement with the Masters 1000 organisers,' Gaudenzi emphasised, 'based on a 50-50 profit-sharing mechanism, almost $20 million has been allocated to tennis players in 2024, compared to $6 million in 2023. That is 25% more on top of the prize money, which has already increased. This means that the total profit of the Masters is close to 110 million'.

"We hope to play good tennis, we will try to entertain people," said Jannik Sinner at the press conference of the Hyundai Card Super Match, which will be broadcast live and free-to-air on SuperTennis on Saturday morning at 8 a.m., Italian time. Who knows, in the future we might see them side by side in doubles together. "We play so many tournaments, it's difficult to play doubles as well. But probably from Seoul we could do it... at least once," Alcaraz said. "We never talked about it, but it would be nice to be on the same side of the court. We will talk about it. This year or next year, why not," he added as reported by Supertennis.

In 2025, they became the first players to face each other in three Slam finals in the same season since 1964. "Ours is a great rivalry on the court, we have a good relationship. It is always a pleasure to face the world number 1 - Sinner said - For me it is very nice, Carlos pushes me to the limit every time we play. Even if we can't compare ourselves to the Big 3'.

"In recent years we have won Slams, tournaments and played finals. People have seen a good rivalry so far. We hope to play finals and many matches together,' stressed Alcaraz.

The two dominators of the men's circuit received a star-studded welcome in South Korea's capital. "We are pleased to see so many people happy to see us play. We will try to give them the best tennis we can. The most important thing will be to entertain them," Sinner said. "The welcome I got was unbelievable, I don't remember a welcome like this. For me it is a pleasure to be here and to play in Korea for the first time. Playing here with Jannik I think is a great way to start the season and prepare for the Australian Open," added Alcaraz, in his first year without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Both were satisfied with the work done during the winter preparation and the quality of the time spent over the Christmas holidays. "We had time to prepare for the season in the best possible way. I spent Christmas at home and that gives you even more energy. Of course, there are still some details to sort out before Australia because the conditions will be completely different," explained Sinner, with whom 18-year-old Roman Jacopo Vasamì has been training in Monte Carlo over the last few days.

"I had a bit of a holiday, we prepared well for the start of the season," said Alcaraz, with whom Flavio Cobolli also trained for a week. "We are happy to start the season and play here. The important thing is to approach the season well."

In the relaxed atmosphere of the press conference there is also room for a nice little joke about the most underrated shot in Carlos Alcaraz's repertoire. "The backhand," he says. 'I confirm, it's not bad' notes Sinner.

The South Tyrolean, however, arouses even deeper curiosity in those who have not seen him play live. "I was lucky because I chose something that I really loved. When you make a decision like mine, you know you won't have the schedule of a normal person: you have to sleep at a certain time, eat in a specific way, train a lot on the court - he said -. Tennis gave me a lot: it made me realise what kind of person I am, that I didn't change with success. It gave me a lot of discipline and made me believe in myself'.