Carlos Alcaraz Admits He Took Advantage of Jannik Sinner’s ‘Physical Problems’ During Italian Open Final
Carlos Alcaraz improved his head-to-head record over Jannik Sinner to 7-4 after clinching his first Italian Open title.
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Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/InteBNLdItalia, Carlos Alcaraz)
Before reaching the Italian Open final, Jannik Sinner dealt with some physical issues during his semifinal match against Tommy Paul, which affected his movement. After his match against Paul, he blamed the blisters under his feet after his 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over the American.
Did Sinner deal with the same problems during the final against Carlos Alcaraz? The Spaniard, after upsetting the home favorite with a 7-5(5), 6-1 scoreline, admitted Sinner’s issues made him prepare beforehand for long rallies. He told Sky Sports after the win:
I have been watching his matches throughout the whole tournament so I knew he said he was struggling a bit physically in the last matches, running with some physical problems. So I tried to show him that it is going to be really, really tough to put in good rallies. Tactically I had to be really ready for long rallies and a long match and I think that helped me a lot.
Both Alcaraz and Sinner were playing their 20th ATP final in that match, which was also their first championship match in the Italian Open capital. After a tense first set, that lasted for 70 minutes, it cannot be denied that Alcaraz dominated in the second set, racing to 5-0.
Sinner’s level dropped a bit in the second set, for he sometimes was not reaching for the balls and had hit just a total of seven winners throughout the match. Alcaraz’s tally was 19.
Jannik Sinner refuses to make excuses after Italian Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner had the golden opportunity to clinch the first set. He was on set point, but a forehand shot he smashed into the net at 15/40, followed by a backhand error.
It was Sinner’s first tournament since the doping ban, but the three-time Major champion was not ready to blame his lack of matches for his defeat. He said at the press conference:
The lack of matches affects some decisions. If I could go back in time, I would play a couple of points differently. I lack matches, although there are no excuses. It’s how I feel, simply, if I could replay certain exchanges, I would play them in a different way.
Alcaraz also snapped Sinner’s 26-match winning streak. Before this final and the start of the streak, which opponent defeated Sinner? It was Alcaraz.
Back in October last year in the China Open final, Alcaraz registered his third consecutive victory over the Italian ace that year, and after Sunday’s victory, Alcaraz clinched his fourth consecutive win. Alcaraz has ended Sinner’s 24th straight-set winning streak over the top 10 players. The Spaniard now holds a 7-4 head-to-head record over the World No.1.
The win was also Alcaraz’s 10th victory in clay-court finals. Sinner, on the other hand, was searching for his second title on the red dirt following his victory at the 2022 Umag Open, which he lifted by beating Alcaraz.
The 22-year-old holds a 2-1 win-loss record over Sinner on clay as apart from Umag and Rome, the two young rivals met in the semifinal of last year’s French Open which Alcaraz clinched for the first time by overcoming Alexander Zverev.
Carlos Alcaraz removes Alexander Zverev from the second position on the rankings table
Alcaraz started this week as a World No.2 by toppling Zverev who lost to Lorenzo Musetti in the Italian Open quarterfinals. Sinner, with 10,380 points, will continue to stay on top of the rankings table. Alcaraz, after clinching the Italian Masters 1000, has 8,850 points.
Both the players will now be preparing for the French Open, which kicks off on May 25th. Sinner was scheduled to play the Hamburg European Open a week before the French Open to get more match practice, but has now pulled out of the tournament.
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