After the emotions from the epic match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for third place at the Six Kings Slam event, tennis fans turned their attention to the final match in the early morning of October 20 (Vietnam time), between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
Before this match, Alcaraz had a slight advantage in terms of head-to-head stats (6-4), including 3 consecutive wins recently. The Spaniard took another step towards the next victory when he won the first set.
Notably, Sinner started better and led 4-1, leading many to think of a 6-2 result in the first set like Djokovic's win over Nadal. However, the world No. 1 did not hold on to the advantage and let Alcaraz drag him into a tie-break, where the 21-year-old won 7-5.
However, the situation was reversed in the next 2 sets. Sinner broke 3 games of Alcaraz in set 2, while only losing 1 break and won 6-3.
The third set was evenly contested, with the turning point only coming when Alcaraz served out at 4-3. A double fault allowed Sinner to extend his lead to 5-3, before Alcaraz capitalised on his service game to seal the match and win the inaugural Six Kings Slam.
Although the event was not officially recognized by the ATP, Sinner still ended his losing streak against Alcaraz, who beat him in the final of the recent Beijing Open.
“We try to push ourselves to the limit,” Sinner said. “I wake up in the morning and try to figure out how to beat him. Rivalries and players like this push us to our 100 percent limit.
I'm very happy about the win today. But the reason we came here is to show you all what tennis is like. Sometimes it can be very long, like today. We try our best and hope everyone enjoys the event."
When asked about his future competition in the next 10 years, Alcaraz said: “I will train and try my best. I am sure Jannik will be there. I will try to do my best every day, year after year.
Hopefully that will make this rivalry better and better over time. I want to say how grateful I am to have him on the tour. Thanks to him, I pushed myself to the limit.
I give 100% every day to become a better player. It's a pleasure every time I share the court with him. Sometimes it's hard to find joy. But it's great every time I face him."
