Beijing 2024: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Jannik Sinner to win Beijing tournament | Tennis | Sport
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner this Wednesday in the final of the tournament in Beijing with scores of 6-7(6), 6-4 and 7-6(3). The 21-year-old Spaniard ended up coming first in the melee, which lasted 3 hours 21 minutes, and won the first trophy of his autumn career, the first also in Asia. There are already four this season after those previously achieved at Indian Wells, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and a total of 16 in the still short elite tour.
“It was a very beautiful match in which anything could happen,” said the champion, who started the match and finally managed to come back against his opponent, who started the final tiebreak with a score of 3-0 in his favor. However, the Murcian persevered and gave an acceleration that led him to success. Thus, he already dominates 6-4 in his personal history with Sinner, who eliminated him last year in the same scenario in the semi-finals.
The Sinner has the virtue of escapism, the Italian being able to avoid traps, chasms and fires like the one proposed during the first Alcaraz set. Free, energetic and decisive, the Murcian moved with grace and self-confidence, inspired by the forehand and solid with the backhand, always creative; However, when he had already taken a position in the center, he began to lose his dexterity with the first serve, and the opponent stood up. From 4-1 to 5-5. Water up to your neck is a bold reaction. Nobody would say that. Until then, he was a tennis player with a lack of mental clarity, a lack of spark and intensity, especially in the legs. Sinner placed his hand on his right knee again and again, rotating in an attempt to relieve some of the discomfort, but once he physically unlocked and felt the possibility of reconnecting, he did not hesitate.
He canceled out the first set point and broke the other two in the tiebreaker. He succeeded on his first try. Alcaraz had his sleeve in his hands, but when he got to the ropes, he paid for his excess momentum with two long balls, and concessions resolved a deception that lasted almost an hour and a quarter. Until then, the action had progressed slowly, and the initial growth of one later tripped up the other. The loss of precision trapped the Spaniard, at times too hasty, sometimes too forceful in his actions, while Sinner began to acquire that cruising speed that was so corrosive and so menacing, becoming more and more even-tempered. The pulse forces fluctuated, one increased, the other weakened, and the feeling spread that if the rope broke at one end, it would be in favor of number one.
The critical moment was in the eighth game with the score 4-3 in his favor when he tried two break options which Alcaraz managed to thwart with great heart. Lack of clarity, protection, stiff wrist and arrests. Moderation in the rain. The Murcian raised his shield, and once the mess was resolved, Mr. Push. The emotional charge revived him, and after delivering a precise blow, he became more successful in his service. From the abyss to balance. Throwing out my arms and shouting: now, finally. Once again, in a tie, Sinner increased the number of winners just as his bug box got dirty, but just as he stepped on the blocks –break against and losing 2-1 in the third – knows how to find a way to break free – 5-4 up – and hold on in the most tense moments of matches.
Not a single smile on his part in more than three hours of battle. The deficit is also represented by Alcaraz. But at this point in the season, the story may not be so much about punches as it is about headshots and resilience, about resistance: the one who suffers the most and believes the most usually wins. And down there, two competing machines are constantly fighting, this time more productive than the one from El Palmar. Sinner also came close to winning 3-0 in the end, but the ball still eluded him. Alcaraz’s stratospheric run was the turning point and after an authoritative volley and a flash of luck (a touch on goal and the ball in) he tipped the scales in his favour. A pleasant and successful start to this autumn, which promises something new. “This year will be different from other years, I will try my best,” warned number two. And things start well in Beijing, the first Asian trophy in his collection.