On Wednesday, Carlos Alcaraz won his first China Open title after storming back from a set down to defeat world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in a thrilling match.
After nearly two decades of intense competition between Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer for supremacy in men’s tennis, the two have established themselves as the heirs to the throne. It was an epic match that suggests there will be many more to come.
They split the majors this year, with Sinner taking home the Australian and US Open titles and Alcaraz taking home the Wimbledon and French Open titles. However, they haven’t faced off in a Grand Slam final, so they had to entertain the crowd with this epic instead.
Alcaraz has defeated Sinner in all three of their meetings this year, accounting for half of Sinner’s losses in an incredible year that has seen the Italian reach the top of the global rankings and win six ATP titles.
Sinner suffered his first-ever defeat in a championship match as Alcaraz capitalised on shifts in momentum to overcome their incredible rallies.
They are also following in the footsteps of tennis’ most beloved rivals by maintaining a healthy friendship off the court; they traveled to Shanghai together immediately after the final for the next stop on the ATP’s China swing. Their insane court coverage combined with sublime stroke making made it reminiscent of Nadal and Federer clashes.
The Spaniard, who will now rank second in the world behind Sinner, overcame a 3-0 deficit in the final set tiebreak to triumph in three hours and twenty-one minutes.
After an intense battle, Sinner lost the longest men’s singles match in China Open history and was crowned the Beijing champion.
In light of his unexpected second-round elimination at the recent US Open, Alcaraz referred to it as “a special win” that was even more fulfilling.
He thinks it will attract more people to the sport.
“It’s good for tennis when Jannik and I play together because we always display a really close, intense match with great rallies and points,” he remarked.
“I think for people who don’t watch tennis, probably thanks to these kind of matches, they will start to watch tennis or even practise it.”Under increased scrutiny, US Open winner Sinner advanced to the Beijing final. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced over the weekend that it had appealed against a decision to clear the Italian athlete of doping, and the athlete has since admitted to having restless nights over the case.
“I think for people who don’t watch tennis, probably thanks to these kind of matches, they will start to watch tennis or even practise it.”Under increased scrutiny, US Open winner Sinner advanced to the Beijing final. The Italian acknowledged having nightmares over his doping conviction, which resurfaced over the weekend when the World
The 21-year-old added that after losing in the second round of the US Open, where Sinner eventually won, the victory was much more sweet.
In August, Alcaraz was eliminated in the Cincinnati Masters round of 32 as well. With his trophy in front of him, he stated in Beijing, “I was a little bit down probably after the American swing.”
“I wanted to put down the racquet for a bit. I had no desire to travel. He acknowledged that his coaching staff had assisted in bringing him back to his former self. “After that, we had a lot of conversations throughout those days, and I realized that in order to overcome obstacles, I needed to resume practicing and develop both my physical and mental strength.
“To be able to feel this moment again, we’ve been working really, really hard on and off the court for the past month.” Alcaraz said it demonstrated what it meant to him and his squad when his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, broke down in tears at the conclusion.
“I started to get the joy back playing the matches, practicing, and I got motivated again, thanks to them,” Alcaraz remarked.
“I was itching to travel and return to competitions.”
Sinner was the first to falter in front of a raucous crowd as second-seeded Alcaraz broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set.
With ease, the Spaniard defeated his opponent 4-1 and left him stunned. The 21-year-old Alcaraz served to start the set, but Sinner recovered the break just in time.
Sinner then forced a tie break by saving a set point on his own service. Later in the tie break, he saved another set point before winning the set when Alcaraz missed a long shot.
Alcaraz had not released a set this week.
The second set was also tightly wound.
Although both players had opportunities, they stuck to serving until Alcaraz broke for a 5-4 lead before holding to move the match into a third set.
Once more, the match ended in a tie break, with Alcaraz winning on his first match point.
“It was a great battle again,” said Sinner, 23, who twice tested positive for a steroid in March but was cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to keep playing.
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) approved Sinner’s claim in August that the substance accidentally got into his system when his physiotherapist used a spray that contained it to treat a wound on him before giving him massage and sports therapy.
WADA announced on Saturday that it had filed an appeal and was requesting a two-year suspension.