The best player in men’s tennis faced the best player in men’s tennis in the final of the China Open. It just depends on what you value.
Jannik Sinner leads according to the official tour rankings; Carlos Alcaraz is ahead according to the jury of his nervous companionsAt the Laver Cup exhibition event in September, some of the best tennis players in the world spent an entire weekend in awe of the 21-year-old Alcaraz, whose tennis, at its peak, looks completely unique. Meanwhile, their nearest rival Despite his internal turmoil, Papi has been on a rampage throughout the season. He won a lucrative US Open immediately after the previous news Anti-doping rule violation went public. After months of private discussions with a tribunal set up by tennis’s anti-doping authority, Sinner The points and prize money were stripped, and “no wrongdoing or negligence” was found, clearing her plate – until midway through the China Open, when the World Anti-Doping Agency announced it would will appeal Previous decision. Now the sinner may have to face a ban of one to two years.
When the top two seeds met in Wednesday’s final—just the second time they had met in a title match—the stakes felt unusually high for a 500-level tournament. Will these ungodly matchups be stopped soon? Will Alcaraz miss sharpening his tennis against an opponent who can bring out his best? These were questions hanging over what was to become a classic, which Alcaraz won 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3).
Sinner and Alcaraz are reinventing the game in their own image. In contrast to their last tumultuous meeting in this year’s Roland-Garros semi-finals, which was mostly a showdown How uncomfortable they could make each otherThis match had all the aesthetically pleasing elements we expected. The strategy was ultra-aggressive, resulting in maybe a two-minute neutral rally throughout the three-hour, 21-minute affair. Each player took a bigger hit than usual on each shot, because he knew his opponent was completely unusual. had defensive court coverage sticky and acrobaticThis was the type of match that defies the traditional format of highlight reels; It should be experienced not as a few extraordinary moments, but as an accumulation of absurdities that shock the audience into disbelief.
Both players were true to their overall reputation on the court. Sinner maintained a steady cruising altitude, a level of tennis miles, if not thousands, above most opponents. Alcaraz’s level went up and down during the match. Dialing for a tiebreak, Sinner won the first set in which Alcaraz outmatched him. In the second set, Alcaraz spent 15 minutes trying to save a service game, alternating between lankhead and brilliant play, only to survive and steal a set that looked too dangerous for her. In the final set, Sinner pushed her to the edge, but Alcaraz, more than any player I’ve seen in the last decade, thrives there. The edge clarifies his thinking and makes him commit to what he does best, instead of wandering among many options.
This is my main takeaway from the 10th installment of Sinkaraaz. As intense as the entire match was, Alcaraz’s last stretch in the decisive tiebreak still lingers in my mind. This is the strongest evidence yet that he responds to scoreboard disappointment with his most creative and daring tennis. no one is better when cornered In a deciding set. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. This is the same kid who had a full-body spasm of anxiety while playing Novak Djokovic at the French Open last year because the moment had overwhelmed him. Nearly 15 months later, such pressure freed Alcaraz to overcome indecision and send it to the net without hesitation.
Sinner, who had recently mastered the tiebreak format, looked in complete control of the third set tiebreak that will determine the champion. he opened it with a smooth serve-and-forehand combo, and sealed the next point with a spectacular drop shot, which Alcaraz hit with such aggressiveness that it untied his shoelaces – 2-0. Alcaraz took a brief stop to change into new kicks, reinstall the orthotic inserts from the old pair, and after that awkward interruption, he came back to serve. He delivered a second meatball which Sinner hit at the feet of Alcaraz for a 3-0 score. Then it seemed that the match was over. Sinner had won two points on the return, and given how good he had been at holding his serve all season, it seemed like that was enough support to win the match.
Cue Alcaraz masterwork. He broke a neutral rally with a huge inside-in forehand, swept across the court to cut off Sinner’s hard-hit angled reply, and, standing near the service line, absorbed all the ball’s momentum and sent it Converted to a stealth drop shot. , finishing the job with the next volley—1-3. Next was a strange, contested point: Alcaraz finally cracked open Sinner’s baseline defense with a crosscourt forehand, then drew it back along the full diagonal of the court with a drop volley, which Sinner somehow balanced perfectly. Retrieved with slide. But Alcaraz, still alert, had the reflexes to get it back into the court – 2-3.
It was from here that the game plan seemed to become clear in his mind. Alcaraz closes the net whenever possible, even if it means Throwing a volley from the difficult no-man’s land In the middle of the court, because this keeps his momentum moving forward instead of backward. He is talented enough to handle that temporary discomfort in service of the next easy volley into open space, even with the best hands on tour. Alcaraz has a unique way of finishing points, bringing them to a sudden conclusion where others are still laboring from the baseline, which is different from everyone else, even Sinner. And that gave them a good advantage here when the points could have gone up significantly.
Alcaraz got an easy point on the first serve, 3-3, changeover, and kept going from there. He later said that it was here that he resolved to make the big move: “If I lose, at least I went for it.” A ridiculously audacious pair of volleys, one from inside the court, and one at the net – 4-3. An inside-out winner from the baseline, which was encircled by the net cord and went out of the court, went ahead, 5-3. A loose mistake from Sinner, a mistake he made in all tiebreaks. Alcaraz then won her seventh consecutive point with an inside-out last serve on her forehand. He screamed and started banging his head on his team, his hair bouncing up and down on his forehead. The prodigy who looked overextended and mentally exhausted during the recent American hard-court season – his first breaking racketInitial crash-out in Cincinnati and us open-Looked completely renovated. Interestingly, after the win Alcaraz said that he still considered Sinner “the best player in the world, at least for me.” He was asked whether he was aware that Sinner had won 18 of his previous 19 tiebreaks that had decided the match, and whether he was aware of the possibility of a recovery.
“Mentally, physically, he’s a beast,” Alcaraz said of his foe. The regeneration of the sinner, indeed, both mental and physical started last year In this same tournament. In 2024 he established himself as the best. At 59-7, he is coming off one of the best seasons in tour history, winning six titles, including his first two Grand Slams. Given his current lead in points, Sinner will almost certainly end the year as No. 1, and yet he has lost all three matches against his most prominent rival this year. It’s clear that he and Alcaraz are two halves of the most reliably exciting matchup in men’s tennis. It is up to the powers to determine whether those meetings are put on hold for a year or two. For now, friends can still split post match flight To Shanghai.