London [UK], July 13 (ANI): Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have taken over men’s tennis, winning seven of the last eight Grand Slam titles between them. It’s no surprise that many now see them as the successors to the legendary Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Now, the top two players in the ATP rankings will face off in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, continuing a fast-growing rivalry.
Despite their rapid success, both remain grounded.
“We are still really young,” Alcaraz said, as quoted from the official website of the ATP Tour.
Their last meeting at Roland Garros was an epic five-set battle. Alcaraz saved three championship points to win the final, 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2). Since then, Sinner played just two matches before Wimbledon, losing early in Halle to Alexander Bublik. He says that the painful loss in Paris hasn’t been on his mind during Wimbledon, but it might come back during the final.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to take a lot of things from the French Open final, that he’s going to be better,” said Alcaraz on Sinner.
“He’s going to be better physically, he’s going to be better mentally,” Alcaraz noted.
“He’s going to be prepared on Sunday to give his 100 per cent. I’m not thinking I have an advantage mentally on Sunday because of that match,” he said.
They’ve only played once before on grass, in the 2022 Wimbledon fourth round, where Sinner won in four sets. But Alcaraz said he won’t even look back at that match because both players have evolved a lot since then.
Taylor Fritz, who lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semis, also faced Sinner three times last year (all on hard courts) and lost each match in straight sets. He praised both players but said Alcaraz is more unpredictable with his variety of shots, using slices, net play, and drop shots.
“(Sinner) is unbelievable at what he does playing from the baseline. I think Carlos is a little more unpredictable with the slicing and the coming to the net and the drop shots. Carlos has a lot of different ways to play,” he noted.
Sinner, meanwhile, dominated Djokovic in the semi-finals, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. However, Djokovic was not at his best physically.
Alcaraz, on the other hand, has had a more challenging route to the final, dropping five sets, including two in the opening round against Fabio Fognini. Still, he knows how to peak at the right moments. He’s won all five Grand Slam finals he’s played, second only to Federer’s 7-0 start.
Alcaraz also enters the final on a 24-match winning streak and has won 33 of his last 34 matches.
Both players have every reason to be confident heading into Sunday’s showdown, but they also know how good the other is.
Novak Djokovic predicted his favourite for the final, “I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos as a favourite because of the two titles he’s won here and the way he’s playing and the confidence he has right now.”
“But it’s just a slight advantage, because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well. I think it’s going to be, again, a very close matchup like we had in Paris,” he added. (ANI)
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