Novak Djokovic’s finish of the U.S. Open semi-finals on Friday was a win for the 38-year-old Serbian, even without winning a set.
Otherwise, starting the second set by holding serve and then breaking his opponent’s serve was about the closest thing to a win for Djokovic against Carlos Alcaraz. Oh, yes, there was the second set tiebreaker in which Novak quickly lost three of the first four points and then lost the tiebreaker, 7-4.
The rest of the 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 Alcaraz victory was good practice for the 22-year-old Spaniard to take into the final against top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
SINNER HAD HIS OWN WALTZ
Of course, Sinner had his own practice session most of the way against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. Except for a hard-fought second set loss, on paper Sinner’s 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 verdict didn’t look that difficult for the tall, lean Italian. But in reality, the match had the flavor of one that could go either way, especially after Sinner had to leave the court early in the second set.
As usual, Alcaraz-Sinner finals are becoming rather common in Grand Slam events. Flip a coin, and you might have the last Grand Slam champion of 2025.
So what, this will be the third consecutive Grand Slam final pitting Alcaraz and Sinner, the first of that nature in the Open Era. And this winner will be No. 1 in the world.
This final will be the eighth straight GS won by Sinner or Alcaraz.
Sinner already had become one of four men to play in four straight GS finals, joining Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Djokovic.
ALCARAZ AND SINNER IN A LEAGUE ALL OF THEIR OWN
And to think Federer and Rafa Nadal once were the only ones in a class all alone, which in reality was true. Sinner and Alcaraz are making it happen again.
There’s something special about these two legends of the 2020s. First, they likely will prevent Djokovic from winning a 25th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic just isn’t the same player he was even five years ago, or maybe even last year.
Alcaraz just played his game against Djokovic in this Grand Slam final. He didn’t appear to worry at all about playing one of the all-time greats. It appeared at times that Alcaraz was just concentrating on being on the other side of the court in Sunday’s final. He played just well enough to keep Djokovic under his wings.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
See his latest columns on all of the Grand Slams at ubitennis.net/author/james-beck or worldtennismagazine.com
