LONDON (AP) — Jannik Sinner needed this victory.
He wanted to win Wimbledon, of course, and it would have meant a lot to him no matter who the opponent was in the final.
That this championship, his fourth at a Grand Slam tournament, came via a win over Carlos Alcaraz made it all the more significant to Sinner — and to the future of their burgeoning rivalry, the best men’s tennis has to offer these days and, perhaps, for many years to come.
“It is important, for sure,” the No. 1-ranked Sinner said Sunday night after prevailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 against No. 2 Alcaraz, “because when you lose several times against someone, it’s not easy.”
Sinner had lost five matches in a row against Alcaraz, none more disheartening than the one they played last month in the French Open final. Sinner grabbed a two-set lead in that one, then held a trio of championship points, before losing in five sets after 5 hours, 29 minutes.
“I keep looking up to Carlos, because even today, I felt like he was doing couple of things better than I did,” Sinner said. “So that’s something … we will work on and prepare ourselves, because he’s going to come for us again.”
Perhaps as soon as at the U.S. Open, which starts in New York on Aug. 24 and where Sinner is the defending champion. They will be seeded No. 1 and No. 2 again, so could only meet there in another final.
Alcaraz won the trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2022, beginning a stretch in which he and Sinner have combined to win nine of the past 12 majors. That includes the last seven, leaving zero doubt that these two young guys — Sinner is 23, Alcaraz is 22 — have pushed themselves way past everyone else in the game at the moment.
“I’m just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him. It’s great for us, and it is great for tennis. Every time we play against each other, our level is really high,” Alcaraz said. “We don’t (see) a level like this, if I’m honest with you. I don’t see any (other players) playing against each other (and) having the level that we are playing when we face each other.”
Both serve well, although Sinner was better at that Sunday. Both return well, although, again, Sinner was superior over these particular three hours. Both cover the court exceedingly well — Alcaraz is faster; Sinner has a bigger reach and is a better slider. Both hit the ball so, so hard — Alcaraz is more prone to the spectacular; Sinner is as pure and consistent a ball-striker as there is.
And so on.
One other contrast, usually, is that Alcaraz shows emotion, whether via yells of “Vamos!” or the sort of point-to-his-ear-then-pump-his-fist celebration he did after winning Sunday’s opening set by stretching and reaching low for a cross-court backhand to close a 12-stroke point.
Sinner is far more contained. Even his arm-raised victory poses are mild-mannered.
Sunday, though, there were more visible displays. He even shouted “Let’s go!” after one point. Later, he shook his racket overhead while the crowd roared after a well-struck backhand. When he took a set with a forehand winner, Sinner held a pose, then lifted a fist.
When the match was over, he crouched, lowered his head and pounded his right palm on the grass five times.
“You saw a bit more energy from him in the big moments,” said one of Sinner’s coaches, Darren Cahill, “and a bit more focus to knuckle down and make sure that, when he had his nose in front, that he kept on closing the door against Carlos.”
Both players spoke about their matchup motivating them to work hard to try to improve.
“It gives me the opportunity to just give my 100% every practice, every day. Just to be better, thanks to that,” said Alcaraz, who won the past two Wimbledon titles and was 5-0 in Grand Slam finals before Sunday. “The level that I have to maintain, and I have to raise, if I want to beat Jannik is really high.”
Sinner described Alcaraz as “someone who is young, who wins basically everything.”
“You have to be ready,” Sinner explained, “if you want to keep up.”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
