Sinner abdicates, Alcaraz wins the Us Open and the top of the Atp ranking
Final without history at Flushing Meadows, Sinner succumbs three sets to one. Alcaraz returns champion and is now the new number one
2' min read
2' min read
Even Jannik Sinner, the real Jannik Sinner, must have been thirty minutes late entering the Arthur Ashe Stadium, like so many spectators, for the checks made necessary by the presence of US President Donald Trump in the stands, and so in the first set of the Us Open final, there was only Carlos Alcaraz on the court, who started off strong, broke the Italian player on serve, and dominated with a solid performance on serve, conceding only three points in total on his serves. A prologue to what was to be the continuation of the match that ended with the score of 3 sets to 1 in his favour (6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4).
Yet another super duel between the number 1 and number 2 in the Atp rankings, the third Grand Slam final played consecutively in the same season by the two rivals, a record in the Open era, began with a 6-2 victory for the Spaniard. Sinner made too many mistakes, crushed by his rival's power and, in particular, suffering from his forehand accelerations..
Fortunately, in the second set, Sinner reacted and seemed to regain rhythm and confidence, improving his second serve and taking advantage of an obvious drop in the effectiveness of Alcaraz's backhand responses. The Wimbledon champion in turn breaks the Spaniard's serve and extends to 6-3 (at the end of the match it will be his only break point).
It was the first set lost in the tournament on the American cement of Alcaraz. But in the third set the Spaniard regained his composure and with a powerful serve and a tidy game again cornered Sinner. The now former number one ranking was surprised by Alcaraz's precision and twice broke his serve. The Spaniard, playing on the wings of enthusiasm and taking advantage of a series of errors by Sinner that were certainly not usual, sealed a 6-1 victory that certified his dominance.
A never-ending first game opened the fourth set in which Sinner nullified several break points and took a 1-0 lead. He was unable to avoid that in the fifth game. Alcaraz broke the Italian's serve and defended his lead by alternating forehands, long backhands, backhands and lightning-fast returns to win the Us Open.
