Alcaraz hits 2024 hat-trick vs. Sinner with epic Beijing final win

Carlos Alcaraz continued his perfect year against his great rival Jannik Sinner with a thrilling championship-match victory on Wednesday at the China Open.

The Spaniard dug deep for a 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) triumph against World No. 1 Sinner to lift the title at the ATP 500 in Beijing. Alcaraz let slip a break lead in both the first and third sets but reeled off seven straight points from 0/3 in the deciding-set tie-break to prevail in an absorbing three-hour, 21-minute encounter, the longest match in tournament history.

“He could [have won] in two, I could win in two, he could win in three. It was a really close match,” said Alcaraz. “Jannik, once again, he showed that he’s the best player in the world, at least for me. The level that he’s playing, it’s unbelievable. It’s a really high quality of tennis. Of shots, physically, mentally, he’s a beast.”

BEIJING CHAMPION ?

In a breathtaking final, @carlosalcaraz fights back to defeat the defending champion Sinner 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) for the #ChinaOpen title!@chinaopen pic.twitter.com/idvMd6LRiz

Alcaraz now leads his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Sinner to 6-4 after winning all three of their encounters this season (Indian Wells, Roland Garros, Beijing). The pair’s rivalry, which is set to remain a major headline-maker on the ATP Tour for years to come, has swung back and forth since their first tour-level clash in 2021, but this marks the first time that either man has won three matches in a row against the other.

“I never lost hope… Honestly I knew that [when I started it] that every tie-break Jannik plays is almost to his side,” said Alcaraz. “I thought that in the third set, I’m not going to lie, 3-love down, two mini breaks for him. So I didn’t lose hope, but I thought, ‘Okay, I have to give everything that I have just to try to give myself the opportunity to be close.’

“I played great points just to make 3-all and after that I just thought to go for it. If I lost it, at least I went for it. So that’s all I thought in that moment.”

Victory for Alcaraz against Sinner also reduced the Spaniard’s deficit in the race for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. Yet the second-placed Alcaraz is now 2,820 points shy of first-placed Sinner in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, which acts a barometer for the race for Year-End No. 1.

With his title run on the hard-courts of Beijing, Alcaraz became the first player to win an ATP 500 crown on all three surfaces (hard, clay and grass) in series history (since 2009). The 21-year-old will next join his rival Sinner in the field at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

“During the whole week I’ve been playing great tennis,” said Alcaraz of his Beijing run. “Probably sometimes the luck went to my side a little bit in the matches. But in general I feel great on court, I feel great off the court as well with my team.

“It’s really important to feel like you are in a good mood all the time off the court, just try to show good tennis and be calm on the court. I think I couldn’t ask for a better week here in Beijing and I will try to keep going.”

Despite struggling to find his best level for much of the opening set, Sinner dug deep to recover a 2-5 deficit and move ahead in the title showdown via a tie-break. Alcaraz had made a confident start and fired a series of blistering winners off his forehand wing early, but he was unable to close out any of the three set points he earned in the first set.

Then came what were arguably the key moments in Alcaraz’s victory. He was under severe pressure on serve at 3-4 in the second set, but clinched a 14-minute game in which he fended off two Sinner break points. He went onto break serve himself in the very next game and, after levelling the match at one-set-all, Alcaraz built on his momentum by opening an early 3-1 lead in the decider.

Sinner was not finished in his bid to become just the second man to successfully defend the Beijing crown after record-six-time champion Novak Djokovic, however. The Italian again recovered to force a tie-break and then forged a 3/0 lead, before Alcaraz’s late heroics finally proved decisive in one of the most memorable matches of the 2024 season.

Alcaraz’s prowess at the net was crucial to his marathon triumph. The four-time major winner won 74 per cent (25/34) of points when moving forwards, according to Infosys ATP Stats, on the way to clinching his ninth consecutive tour-level victory.

“I had my chances in the first set, didn’t make it," said Alcaraz. "Three set points, didn’t make it. But in general, I’m proud about myself with the way that I [played] the match, the way that I managed everything. Being a set down with a lot of opportunities in the second set... 4-3, break point down and to be able to come back after that… it has been a pretty good time, pretty good match.

“I’m really happy that in the third set, even though he broke my serve again and we were really close, I gsve myself the chance to keep going, playing aggressively and at the end I’m really happy that I made it.”

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