As the cameras started to pan away and the trophy ceremony wound down, Carlos Alcaraz received a tap on the shoulder. He turned around to find Jannik Sinner, who had climbed the steps up to the stage to offer the new US Open champion and World No 1 his congratulations one last time.
There is a deep sense of respect between the young men who have now equally split the last eight grand slam titles between them. But, as in all great rivalries, there is also a healthy dose of obsession about their patterns and behaviours when it comes to looking to beat the other.
Immediately after losing the Wimbledon final to Sinner, Alcaraz turned his focus to getting his own back in New York. The 22-year-old sat down with his coach, the former World No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, and pored over the two most recent matches against Sinner at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.
Between them, they studied the areas where Alcaraz had to improve and where Sinner could be hurt. Then, they drew up a 15-day training block focused solely on the opponent Alcaraz would inevitably face should he reach the US Open final in New York.
“Right after [Wimbledon] I just thought that I need to improve some things if I want to beat him,” Alcaraz said. “I just spent two weeks before Cincinnati just practising specific things about my game that I need or I felt like I need to improve if I want to beat Jannik.”
The result, eight weeks on, was the complete reverse of what unfolded on Centre Court. “He has improved,” Sinner acknowledged. “The things I did well in London, he did better today. He was doing everything slightly better, especially serving, both sides, both swings very clean.”
Following a wild Roland Garros final where Alcaraz saved three championship points to defeat Sinner across five unbelievable sets, the second and third chapters of their trilogy of grand slam finals have revealed the direction of where this ever-evolving rivalry is heading.
After six grand slams in a row where Sinner won titles on the hard courts at the Australian Open and US Open and Alcaraz lifted the trophy on the natural surfaces at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, both players have effectively pulled off ‘away’ victories to leave the other facing a period of self-examination.
Sinner’s Wimbledon triumph ended Alcaraz’s bid for three in a row on grass, prompting Alcaraz and his team to delve into the match-up. Alcaraz halting Sinner’s winning run at hard court grand slams at 27 matches has now provoked a similar reaction on the other side, with the 24-year-old Italian admitting he had to look at himself.
“I was very predictable today,” Sinner said. “On court, he did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match I will play against him.”
Alcaraz aside, part of Sinner’s problem is that he is so much better than every other player in the world. With his destructive pace and power from the baseline, Sinner can blast opponents off the court and often doesn’t need to look past Plan A to win comfortably. His record this year against everyone else is 36-1. But against Alcaraz it’s 1-4.
Against an in-form, focused Alcaraz, Sinner not only has to deal with the same pace coming back, but also has to contend with the Spaniard’s variety of shot and the changes of spin and weight, as well as his physicality and movement across the court. “I feel I can do everything,” Alcaraz said as he sat next to the US Open trophy.
There is no one else as complete as Alcaraz, leading Sinner to the conclusion that he can’t suddenly turn up at a grand slam final and change the way he plays for a specific, elite opponent. Instead, it’s got to be built into his game, even if it means losing matches in order to develop a plan B.
“During this tournament, I didn’t make one serve-volley, didn’t use a lot of drop shots, and then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos where you have to go out of the comfort zone,” Sinner said.
“So I’m going to aim to… maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”
This, it should be said, was said barely two hours after Sinner had become the youngest man in the Open era to appear in all four grand slam finals in the same season, finishing the campaign with a 26-2 record at the majors.
Alcaraz wouldn’t agree that Sinner’s game was too easy to read. “But I know him,” he added. ”I love watching him play. I think it is unbelievable what he’s doing. Secondly, it’s because I love to study him. I wouldn’t say he’s predictable, but I know his style. I know what he’s going to do or his main weapons on his game.”
Alcaraz, meanwhile, has raised his level. “The performance today was perfect,” Ferrero said. Above all, the newly crowned six-time grand slam champion took satisfaction from the consistency he had shown throughout his US Open run, finding his best-ever level across a tournament.
“I think he’s growing up,” Ferrero said. “I think we have been very clear what he has to improve on the court and off the court, and I think he’s more mature to believe he can improve these kinds of things much better for the future.”
At the start of the year, Alcaraz said he set himself the goal of returning to World No 1 by the end of the season. He reached it with months to spare, pushed on by what Sinner had accomplished over him.
In a development that is likely to further distance the two best players in the world from the rest, now it can be Sinner’s turn to catch up. “Something new is now I’m not No 1 anymore,” Sinner said. “It also changes a little bit that you chase. It’s different. Then we see.”
