Carlos Alcaraz said he felt “under pressure” as a result of Jannik Sinner’s improved serve as the Italian responded to his defeat in the US Open final with a 6-2 6-4 destruction of the World No 1 to win the Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
After working on his service motion following his defeat to Alcaraz in New York last month, Sinner won 80 per cent of his service points and did not allow his rival a single break point as he cruised to a dominant win in just 73 minutes to win the $6m total prize for a second time.
The 24-year-old Sinner admitted after his US Open final defeat that he had to make “changes” to his game and, while the Riyadh altitude gave Sinner’s serve some extra pop, Alcaraz said he could “feel” how his shot had developed since their last meeting.
“He played great today. He didn’t let me get a good rhythm,” Alcaraz said. “He was improving a lot, the serve, and I could feel it. No break points today, which for me is something weird. I’m used to at least one break point in the match. But when he’s serving really good it’s really difficult. I couldn’t find a solution today, so I think he deserved it.”
Sinner also won over 80 per cent of his service points in his 6-2 6-4 win over Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, and said after that match: “We worked a lot in the past month, we’re serving hours and hours.”
Sinner broke Alcaraz’s serve in the opening game of the match and broke again to lead 4-1, converting his advantage to win the set. Alcaraz faced constant pressure to hold in the second set but held on until Sinner broke him to lead 4-3. Sinner did not blink as he closed out his victory with a love-hold.
While Sinner’s win over Alcaraz won’t count towards the rankings race or their head-to-head record, the Italian had just one victory over the six-time grand slam champion in his previous eight attempts. This was his second win over Alcaraz in the final of the Six Kings Slam, however, adding to last year’s triumph.
“When Jannik is playing at this level, it’s always difficult. I think everybody could enjoy his tennis today,” Alcaraz said. “It was really high level of tennis. Sometimes it seems like he’s playing ping pong. It’s not funny, to be honest, being at the other side of the net
“But I always said that. When he plays such great tennis, it gives me motivation just to then go to the practice court, give him 100 per cent, try to be better. Sometimes he’s annoying, but at the same time he gives me extra motivation.”
The victory sets up Sinner to make a push towards the year-end ATP Finals, where he may also benefit from the altitude and indoor conditions in front of his home fans in Turin.
“It’s always nice to share the court with Carlos,” Sinner said. “You’ve done an incredible job throughout the whole season, working very hard, winning incredible titles, title after title. So thanks actually for leaving one also for me at the moment!
“I lost also many times against Carlos, it’s a huge pleasure and an honour to share the court with him, but at the same time, you want to get better as a tennis player. It’s nice to have a great rivalry and also, more importantly, a great friendship off the court, and we have a very, very special, special friendship.”
