The 2026 season has not been defined by the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in the same way 2025 was, but the two have still proven themselves to be ahead of everyone else on the tour.
Of course, Alexander Zverev has arguably put himself in the same bracket as the ‘new two’, having won more majors this year than both of them.
But en route to his first two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and the US Open, Zverev has had to go through neither Sinner nor Alcaraz.
Indeed, across all tour-level events, Zverev has not been able to beat either Sinner or Alcaraz this year, but there are a few who have.
Everyone who has beaten Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2026
The first player to beat one of Sinner or Alcaraz this season was Novak Djokovic, who put together an extraordinary run at the Australian Open.
In the twilight of his career, Djokovic defeated Sinner in the semifinals at Melbourne Park, before losing to Alcaraz in the championship match.
As Alcaraz continued his winning streak on his way to capturing the Qatar Open title, Sinner was beaten again in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event in Doha.
His last-eight conqueror was Jakub Mensik, who defeated Sinner in three sets.
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Sinner bounced back after that and didn’t lose a match until Roland Garros, winning five straight ATP Masters 1000 titles.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, fell for the first time in 2026 in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Open to Daniil Medvedev.
At the Miami Open, Alcaraz suffered his most shocking defeat of the year, losing to American player Sebastian Korda in the third round.
Alcaraz got back into form at the start of the clay swing, advancing to the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
It was there that fans got to witness the first battle of the season between Alcaraz and Sinner, and the latter triumphed this time, retaking world number one status in the process.
Alcaraz got injured at the Barcelona Open, which handed Sinner a golden opportunity to complete the Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros.
But Sinner was on the receiving end of arguably the biggest shock of the year in Paris, as he fell to Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
The Argentine came back from two sets down to defeat Sinner, becoming just the third player to beat him in 2026.
Sinner then won Wimbledon and hasn’t featured on the ATP Tour ever since, but Alcaraz returned in his rival’s absence.
Despite not playing a warm-up tournament, Alcaraz decided to enter the US Open to attempt a title defence, and his level was much higher than most expected it to be.
He dropped just one set en route to the quarterfinals, where he met Ben Shelton, who would become the fourth and most recent player to topple him this year.
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