Jannik Sinner frustrates Carlos Alcaraz in the final (6-7, 6-1, 6-1) and triumphs in Croatia

Two falls for Carlos Alcaraz, first day for Jannik Sinner. The poster for the final in Umag kept its promises and offered a strong performance from the Transalpin, winner in three sets (6-7 [5], 6-1, 6-1) after a very fine match. For Sinner, it is the first title of the season, the sixth of his young career, at only 20 years old. In what could be a future classic for the next few years, Alcaraz stumbled on him for the second consecutive week in the final of a tournament.

Already beaten in the final by a 20-year-old Italian in Hamburg last Sunday, Lorenzo Musetti, the Murcian will end up believing himself cursed. He had not lost any of his first five career finals, notably signing a perfect 3/3 on ochre. The balance sheet is now a little more tainted, the fault this time of a Jannik Sinner of the big nights. Not disconcerted by the adversity of the evening, the 10th player in the world succeeded in the same way as at Wimbledon three weeks earlier: preventing Alcaraz from taking his service from him for the whole match.

12 of the last 14 games won by Sinner

Aggressive on the first ball, very solid in the exchange, Sinner disgusted his opponent, without solutions despite his six break points in the second game of the second set. From then on, the Italian has not lost a single game in this round. Because if Carlos Alcaraz had won the first set in the tie-break, counting in particular on the variety of his commitment, his physique seemed to decline over the games. The extended semi-final the day before against Giulio Zeppieri, Italian – definitely! – pulled out of qualifying and his twisted ankle on Saturday probably didn’t help.

“I haven’t played very well this week and Jannik deserves his victory, the Spaniard simply conceded. But I intend to find the solution to beat him next time.“Sinner was ruthless in his first final since Antwerp last year. He, who had never won a tournament on clay, had until then alternated between good and passable on this surface last season. But his solid Wimbledon tournament, during which he led two sets to nil in the quarter against Novak Djokovic, seems to have restored the confidence he lost at the start of the exercise.I’ve had a rough year so far but I kept working hard to finally lift a trophy“he reacted after his title.

Sinner also becomes the first player to beat Carlos Alcaraz twice in 2022, and the first to win against the Spaniard this season after trailing by a set. His first career victory over a player in the Top 5 in the world and his title will take him to ninth place in the world on Monday, ahead of Felix Auger-Aliassime, even if this rebound will be short-lived since he will not defend his coronation and his 500 points. acquired in Washington last year. Alcaraz, he nibbles a little more at ATP and will take the number 4, ahead of Stefanos Tsitsipas. This defeat, and even these two consecutive defeats in the final are all lessons that could just as much help him to climb further in the hierarchy in the future.