making history with you

(or: how little tweaks in presentation can change the feel of the story)

(or: is there an actual recording of the press conference somewhere because i'm starting to think i shouldn't unquestioningly believe everything i read on the internet, shock gasp horror)

From Changeover (Ch 13) by Giri Nathan:

(Earlier in the day Carlitos had sat down with a few journalists. “Do you joke with Jannik about the season?” he was asked, because while Jannik had ended as the No. 1–ranked player, Carlos had beaten him in all of their tour meetings. Alcaraz laughed. “I didn’t joke with him about it. But I joke with my friends. I can’t lie,” he said, likening it to stretches of Federer’s career where almost all his very rare losses were to Nadal. “It’s hilarious and makes me feel good, you know, beating the best player in the world, he has done one of the best seasons ever.” The final tally of that season was 73-6 for Sinner—and yet 0-3 against his archrival.)

Distinguished from the others by: Carlos saying Jannik is the best player in the world who had one of the best seasons ever

From The Athletic, article by Matthew Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare (x)

(About nine months ago in this city, Alcaraz had one of those brief moments when he stops being unrelentingly polite to his rival.

Sinner had been No. 1 all year. He was 73-3 against every tennis player not named Alcaraz, but he was 0-3 against the only player who really matters to him in the sport.

Alcaraz was asked if he ever gives Sinner a hard time about this. No, Alcaraz said, “but my friends think it’s hilarious.”)

Distinguished from the others by: .........wait, so was Carlos involved in joking with his friends or was he just a bystander? (he was definitely involved)

From The Cruelest Game (Ch 14) by Matthew Futterman:

(On a chilly night in New York in December 2024, Carlitos is sitting in the conference room of a hotel doing some interviews ahead of an exhibition. In a little while, he and Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula, and Emma Navarro will pile into a car and head down to the Knicks game. A new season is a month away. Life is good.

I ask him about the irony of the tennis rankings. He’d beaten Sinner three times during the year, a perfect 3–0 against his biggest rival, including a win in the French Open semifinal. They’d split the Grand Slams. Yet Sinner was No. 1.

What did he think of all that? I know they are friendly, but I have to wonder, does he joke about it with him in the locker room?

His eyes light up. The most devilish smile spreads across his face.

“I didn’t joke with him about it, but I joke with my friends,” he says, the laughter breaking out. “I can’t lie. I can’t lie.”

He’d seen the comparisons on social media to a stretch in the mid-2000s, when Federer was No. 1 and undefeated against everyone in the world not named Nadal.

“It’s hilarious,” he said of the contrast between the record and the rankings, of Sinner being undefeated except against players named Carlos Alcaraz. “Makes me feel good.”)