Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner take their rivalry on the road early in 2026 with an exhibition clash in South Korea on Saturday.
The top two men’s singles players in the world, who have contested the last three Grand Slam finals, will play the Hyundai Card Super Match in Incheon – the first time we will see the pair on court in 2026.
Both Alcaraz and Sinner have opted not to play an official tour warm-up event ahead of the Australian Open, with the first Grand Slam of the season starting on 18 January in Melbourne.
Sinner won the pair’s last meeting, in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, while Alcaraz won their last match-up in a Grand Slam final at the US Open in New York.
Here’s all the details ahead of their exhibition on Saturday.
What is the start time?
Carlos Alcaraz’s exhibition match against Jannik Sinner, officially titled the ‘Hyundai Card Super Match 14’, takes place on Saturday 10 January at 7am GMT (4pm local time).
Where is the match?
The match is taking place at the INSPIRE Arena in Incheon, South Korea. All 15,000 tickets sold out rapidly when put on sale last year.
What are the players being paid to appear?
Both players will earn roughly £1.7m ($2.3m) for appearing at the exhibition event, according to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.
That’s more than reaching the final of the men’s singles Australian Open (£1.6m); the winner receives £3m.
What have they both said in the build-up?
Sinner stressed that their performances in the Seoul clash would not be a true indicator of how they will fare at the Australian Open.
"We're happy to be here, we're happy to provide hopefully good tennis tomorrow," the Italian said.
"But it's not going to reflect on any of us how we're going to start the tournament in Australia. We are here to make hopefully a good match, but also to put a smile on as many people as possible."
Both players also teased the prospect of playing doubles together in the future. "It was once or twice we thought about it," world number one Alcaraz told a press conference on Friday, which was followed by a playful table tennis session in front of hundreds of fans.
"But being singles players and playing so many matches, tournament after tournament in a row, it's really difficult to play doubles sometimes.
"At least once would be fine. But I think I play forehand and he (Sinner) plays backhand."
Sinner also embraced the idea. "I think it would be fun at least one time to share the court in different ways, on the same side," he said.
"We are going to talk about it maybe this year. Or next year, why not? It's going to be a surprise!"
Novak Djokovic withdraws from Australian Open warm-up tournament
Carlos Alcaraz’s former coach ‘hurt’ by split but open to joining Jannik Sinner’s team
Carlos Alcaraz thanks coach for ‘turning dreams into reality’ as he confirms split
Nick Kyrgios responds after failing to receive Australian Open wildcard
Sabalenka happy to be fined for skipping tournaments in ‘insane’ tennis schedule
Novak Djokovic withdraws from Australian Open warm-up tournament
