Carlos Alcaraz has claimed his first ATP trophy on Asian soil after beating world No.1 Jannik Sinner in a roller-coaster battle at the China Open.
Alcaraz ousted his rival 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3), in a closely contested encounter that lasted almost three-and-a-half hours with plenty of twists and turns. Alcaraz pilled pressure onto the world No.1 throughout the final as he fired a total of 55 winners and won 73% of his first service points. The victory is Alcaraz’s 48th of the season and he now leads Sinner 6-4 in their head-to-head.
“He could he could have won in two. I could have won in two. He could have won in three…..it was a really close match.” Alcaraz said during his post-match interview.
“Jannik has once again showed that he’s the best player in the world, at least for me. The level that he’s playing, it is unbelievable. It’s a really high quality of tennis of sorts. Physically. Mentally he is a beast.”
The first set was a fight for survival for the top seed, who was on the verge of losing it multiple times. Alcaraz got off to a blistering start as he raced to a 5-2 lead before getting pegged back. The Spaniard then had his first set point opportunity when leading 6-5, which was saved by a Sinner volley. Alcaraz continued to see his chances come and go in the tiebreak when he lost a mini-break advantage before failing to convert two more set points. Eventually, Sinner held his nerve to clinch the opener after 70 minutes.
The world No.3 managed to turn his fortunes around in the second set after surviving a marathon eight-deuce game when he twice denied Sinner a chance to break and serve for the title. Instead, Alcaraz drew level at 4-4 before going on to break in the following game and then sealing the second frame with a love service game.
Sinner narrowly prevented himself from going down a double break in the deciding set. However, once again he weathered the storm to draw level at the expense of a lackluster service game from his rival.
With all to play for, both players produced some exhilarating tennis en route to the decisive tiebreaker. It looked as if Alcaraz was on the verge of defeat after going behind 0-3 before staging a mighty comeback by winning seven straight points to seal victory, closing the match out with a forehand winner.
“I’m proud of myself with the way that I managed everything. Being a set down with a lot of opportunities, in the second set for all break point down as well,” said Alcaraz.
“It has been a really good match.”
According to OptaAce, Alcaraz is the youngest player to beat a world No.1 player in an ATP final after losing the first set since Juan Martin del Potro at the 2009 US Open. At the tournament, he also defeated seeded players Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev.
“During the whole week, I’ve been playing great tennis, probably sometimes luck went to my side a little bit in the matches but in general, I felt great on court,” he reflected on his Beijing run.
“I felt great off the court as well with my team. I think it’s really important to feel like you are good.
“I couldn’t ask for a better week here in Beijing. I will try to keep going.”
Alcaraz is the first player to win an ATP 500 title on all three surfaces.
