The previous victories in the tournament were worth nothing, the rivals had little pedigree and few conclusions. The match was this final against Jannik Sinner, as equal in the powerful and risky style as dangers due to the background: executioner in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, and also executioner in this final of the ATP 250 in Umag. 365 days after winning his first professional circuit title on this earth, he relinquishes the crown to the new four in the world, Carlos Alcarazafter a match from more to less pushed by a very powerful Sinner who won his first title of the year (sixth in total) and his first on clay.
They are two players who have yet to grow, but who have already given a good growth spurt. Power, control and head in a clash of the present that is expected to be repeated on many occasions in the future.
There had been almost no match against Facundo Bagnis and against Guilio Zeppieri he suffered greatly. But in the key hour, the best Alcaraz had to come out. The one with the firm and deep rights, the one with the endless runs, the one with the surprise when the rival least expects it. It was not easy to get that version, the Italian owner of a very powerful serve with which won 91% of the points put in play with the first for much of the first set. But Alcaraz did not suffer too much on his shifts either. There is also power, 200 kilometers per hour, and a spark of illegibility in changes of direction.
The bottom game rules, the Spaniard knows that drop shots may not be effective with the Italian, 1’88 with a lanky body and legs. And from there the forts are kept high, with the attack as the only weapon. So firm one and the other that no break ball is disputed. And game time is over when Alcaraz finds the first one. It is already in the tie break, and the result of one of those geniuses of firm hand first, soft hand later: luring the Italian into the net with the dropshot, surprising him with an exquisite lob. The Spaniard chains clenched fists until 5-1, the Italian does not give in, who with power approaches 5-4, serves the Spanish perfectly, steals the set option with a rest from the Italian, but it is Alcaraz who wins another opportunity, to the rest, which he converts with a defense from side to side and a wrist movement with which he entangles Sinner. ‘Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go’, repeats the Murcian, one hour and six minutes of endurance before the bombings and glove before the holes that it finds.
Find a crack at the start of the second set. Another example of reaction capacity, defense and running with which he surpasses Sinner after the latter had the point in his hand three times, shot included. But it begins to be a wall Sinner, who fights the six break balls against to tie at 1 and, suddenly, there are six consecutive games for the Italian. Alcaraz has not disappeared, but his effectiveness and the freshness of his ideas, anchored in those six break options that he did not convert. Y Sinner gets bigger and biggervery comfortable in attacks, pouring himself into each ball to handcuff the Spanish two meters behind the baseline.
Alcaraz finds no relief, blurred at times, who can no longer snatch more break options and it costs him a world to serve with power and aim. He denies and shakes his head the four of the world, clueless when it is his turn to choose the winning shot and sold when it is his turn to defend. The legs no longer reach to Sinner’s explosive proposal, the one who won him at Wimbledon, the one who also stole two sets from Novak Djokovic, the one who is joining the battle to be the best of the twenty-something generation. There is Alcaraz, in this fight. But he falls to Sinner for the second time, in a match that will surely be repeated many times in the future. And there are two consecutive finals without a prize for the Spaniard: last Sunday, in Hamburg, against Lorenzo Musetti; that of Umag, before Jannik Sinner. Another lesson for the racket player.
