The Spanish third seed showed no mercy to Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka, who was taught a 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 lesson on Margaret Court Arena in an 81-minute rout.

Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon titles last year while Sinner claimed the Australian Open and U.S. Open trophies as the pair heralded a new era for the men's game by shutting out 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

For over two decades, the "Big Three" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic dominated the sport, pushing each other to unimaginable heights. Now, a new story begins.

Novak Djokovic is ready to challenge Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the Grand Slam stage when he returns to action at the Australian Open after an underwhelming campaign this year, the 24-times champion said.

Carlos Alcaraz said he was hoping to make Rafael Nadal's tennis farewell at the Davis Cup Finals a victorious one after he was dumped out of the ATP Finals at the group stage with a straight-sets defeat to Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Alexander Zverev secured a spot in the last four of the ATP Finals on Friday with 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory over Carlos Alcaraz which leaves the Spaniard's destiny out of his hands.

Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, announced last week that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.

Jannik Sinner beat Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5 to reach the Shanghai Masters final on Saturday and ensure he finishes the year as world number one.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz made short work of China's Shang Juncheng on Saturday, defeating him in straight sets to breeze through to the Shanghai Masters third round.

The four-time Grand Slam champion from Spain edged a captivating final 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) for his fourth ATP crown of the year and 16th overall.

Jannik Sinner ignored the bubbling controversy over his steroid case and a roaring home crowd to set up a China Open final against Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday.

Carlos Alcaraz welcomed the addition of Rafa Nadal to Spain's Davis Cup team for the quarter-finals in November and hoped the event in Malaga will not mark the end of the 22-times Grand Slam champion's career.

"I'm too far away from that level," he said. "I hope I'll reach it one day, but it's really impossible," said Alcaraz.

"It was a huge thing when I played him for the first time," said the world number three. "The other times for me were kind of a nightmare."

Alcaraz lost 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, ending his bid to become only the third man in the modern era to win the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same season.

Sinner marked his return to the courts for the first time since it was revealed he had failed two drugs tests, coming back from a set and break down to defeat Mackenzie McDonald at the US Open.

Alcaraz won his first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2022. He's piled up three more since then, including this year's French Open and Wimbledon.

"I'm human, the nerves had accumulated and sometimes it is very tough to control when there is that tension. I will work so that it doesn't happen again."

Novak Djokovic described his Olympic gold medal triumph on Sunday as "probably" his "biggest sporting success" and revealed he may defend the title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games when he will be 41.

A fired-up Novak Djokovic on Friday reached his first Olympic Games final, where he will face Carlos Alcaraz in a dream gold medal showdown.