Carlos Alcaraz ended Jannik Sinner’s winning run to take the China Open title in Beijing after another pulsating encounter between the two young stars.
Sinner went into the final on a 15-match winning streak after lifting his second grand slam trophy of the season at the US Open, but it was Alcaraz who came out on top 6-7 (6) 6-4 7-6 (3) after three hours and 21 minutes.
The Spaniard now has a 6-4 lead over his big rival in their head-to-head after thumping 55 winners and playing a stunning final tie-break.
It just keeps getting better! 😱@carlosalcaraz @janniksin #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/OkMNJCcS82
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 2, 2024
“It was a really close match,” said Alcaraz. “Jannik showed once again that he’s the best player in the world, at least for me, the level that he’s playing is unbelievable.
“I had my chances in the first set, didn’t make it. But in general I’m proud of myself with the way that I dealt with the match, the way that I managed everything.
“I’m really happy that in the third set. Even though he broke my serve again and it was really close, I gave myself the chance to keep going, playing aggressively and I’m really happy that I made it.”
Alcaraz has found his mojo again over the last couple of weeks following a shock second-round loss at the US Open and he was electric at the start of the contest.
He opened up a 5-2 lead in the opening set, but Sinner responded by breaking Alcaraz when he served for it and the world number one then saved three set points before taking the tie-break.
It was another example of the mental toughness Sinner has shown this season, but it was Alcaraz who dug in in the second set, saving two break points in a long eighth game before breaking his opponent and levelling the match.
Jannik Sinner stretches for a forehand (Andy Wong/AP)
The momentum was now back with the 21-year-old, who had won both his previous meetings against his rival this season, and he piled on more pressure in the early stages of the deciding set.
After breaking Sinner to lead 2-1, Alcaraz had two more chances in the fifth game but could not take them and, in a repeat of the opener, back came the top seed.
It was fitting the contest came down to a deciding tie-break and Sinner looked to be in the ascendancy when he took a 3-0 lead, but Alcaraz responded in stunning fashion with seven points in a row.
In Shanghai, Britain’s Dan Evans, who had come through qualifying, lost a deciding tie-break in a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (3) first-round defeat by Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here