Carlos Alcaraz labelled Nick Kyrgios’ comments ‘funny’ after the Australian backed Jannick Sinner to have a more successful career than him.
Former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios recently backed Sinner to win more titles than Alcaraz because the Spaniard ‘likes girls’ and ‘might party too much’.
World number two Alcaraz is in fourth round action at the All England Club today, where he faces number 14 seed Andrey Rublev.
The 22-year-old is a popular pick to win a third consecutive Wimbledon title, who is currently on a stunning 21-match winning streak, including victory over Sinner in a thrilling French Open final.
With the world’s top two players already boasting eight Grand Slam titles between them, the pair look set to dominate men’s tennis for the coming years.
This has sparked a lively debate over which star will accomplish the most over the course of their career.
And while Alcaraz has more than displayed his credentials to pip his generational rival, Kyrgios, who stars on Wimbledon Unfiltered for talkSPORT, has claimed Sinner‘s professionalism will see him come out on top in the long run.
In an interview with tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, the 30-year-old was asked which of the duo he believes will have a stronger overall career.
He controversially replied: “I’ll say Sinner, because Alcaraz likes girls. He might get distracted, he might party too much.
“That’s my only thing, whereas Sinner will stay a bit locked in, I think.”
But Alcaraz has now had hit back at the eye-catching comments, as he appeared to aim a subtle dig back at Kyrgios.
The five-time Grand Slam champion said: “They’re funny comments, which coming from him doesn’t surprise me.
“It’s no secret that Jannik has fewer ups and downs than me. It’s something I’ve been working on. It has nothing to do with the nightlife world.”
Despite Kyrgios’ comments causing a stir, Alcaraz has previously been open about his need to balance his personal and professional life.
In his Netflix documentary series, “Carlos Alcaraz: My Way”, the Spanish star explained that he can find tennis overwhelming at times.
He said: “Right now my biggest fear of all is ending up seeing tennis as an obligation.
“Sometimes I feel like I am enslaved to tennis and that causes anxiety, frustration, doubts.”
He is always looking for ways to relax off the court and after winning the French Open in June he headed straight for Ibiza.
Alcaraz admitted to having a ‘few shots’ but said his trip to the party island did not get out of hand.
While his form has been sensational, Alcaraz has made hard work of his early encounters at the grass court major, winning a five-set thriller against Fabio Fognini in the first round.
He also dropped a set in his latest outing, as he battled to victory over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, winning 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Sinner has had no such problems, advancing to the round of 16 with three consecutive straight sets wins.
After beating Luca Nardi, Aleksandar Vukic and Pedro Martinez so far, the Italian will face 2014 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16 on Monday, as he continues his bid for a first Wimbledon title.
