“It’s not easy to play him,” Jannik Sinner refocuses on getting better after shocking loss against Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz staged a terrific comeback to take down Sinner in three sets.

“It’s not easy to play him,” Jannik Sinner refocuses on getting better after shocking loss against Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (Image via Imago)

Italian tennis star and reigning Australia Open champion Jannik Sinner suffered a heartbreaking loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2024 Indian Wells Open semifinal. Despite claiming the first set 6-1, Sinner went on to lose the match in three sets. While Alcaraz made a terrific comeback in the next two sets, Sinner also made rookie mistakes.

The 22-year-old accepted the mistakes he made during the match against Alcaraz. While the Italian ace lauded his counterpart for an impressive performance on the day, Sinner talked about his mistakes. The 2024 Australian Open champion claimed that he became too predictable after the first set.

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Notably, Sinner won the first set emphatically as Alcaraz kept pondering over how to save match points. From the second set onward, however, things changed drastically for Sinner as Alcaraz started moving quickly across the court. The Spaniard found ways to return almost every shot from Sinner and won the second set 6-3.

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The decider was even crazier for Alcaraz who landed winners with much ease. The two-time Grand Slam champion raced to a 6-2 win in no time. Sinner looked stuck at times and the 22-year-old admitted these mistakes after the match.

Jannik Sinner rues not moving quickly across the court

Jannik Sinner talked about his mistake where he chose to stay solid rather than moving quickly across the court. The Italian ace said that he decided to stay solid after seeing Carlos Alcaraz struggling but it turned out to be a mistake.

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (Imago)

While heaping praise on Alcaraz, the World No. 2 talked about the lesson he learned after the defeat in the semifinal. 

He showed already so many things that, for sure, you are always impressed when you play against him. But you are also prepared, like for certain shots, drop shots. He's moving really, really fast, as we know...But what I missed today is I was too predictable at some points. I was doing the same things over and over again, which in my mind let me down.
Jannik Sinner said.

Sinner admitted that things changed for him after the first set because he decided to stay solid. 

I was playing really good the first set. Then after, when you see your opponent, you know, struggling a little bit, I tried to stay solid instead of trying to move around. So I was too predictable at some points. I think that's the lesson for today. We will work on certain things and hopefully I will get better.
The Italian ace explained.

Notably, it was the eighth meeting between the two players and Alcaraz leveled the head-to-head score with this win in the Indian Wells semifinal. The Spaniard will now meet Daniil Medvedev in the final.

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