World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz took down No. 1 Jannik Sinner 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3), in the China Open final in Beijing on Wednesday, and he did it in dramatic fashion.
After losing the first set in a tiebreak, Alcaraz won the second set and then took the third to a tiebreak as well. Down 3-1 in the third-set tiebreak, Alcaraz covered the entire court several times over to win a crucial point:
That point seemed to shift momentum firmly in the Spaniard’s favor, as he won seven points in a row to win the match after falling behind 3-0 in the tiebreak.
Per José Morgado of Portugal’s Record, the win gave Alcaraz his fourth title of 2024 and improved his record against Sinner to 3-0 on the year:
While Alcaraz had a disappointing second-round exit at the U.S. Open over the summer, Wednesday’s win suggests he is back on track and playing some of his best tennis late in the year.
For Alcaraz, Wednesday marked the first China Open title of his young career, and it also saw him knock off the defending champion, as Sinner beat Daniil Medvedev in the 2023 China Open final.
The 2024 season has been a banner year for the 21-year-old phenom, highlighted by French Open and Wimbledon titles, bringing his career Grand Slam singles title total to four. He also won a silver medal in men’s singles at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Sinner enjoyed a spectacular year in his own right, ascending to No. 1 in the world and winning the first two Grand Slam singles titles of his career in the Australian Open and U.S. Open.
Momentum was seemingly on the Italian’s side entering the China Open given that he went the distance in the U.S. Open and took down American Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final.
By comparison, Alcaraz was shocked by Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 in the second round, ending his tournament far earlier than anyone could have anticipated.
Perhaps the loss shouldn’t have been so surprising given that Alcaraz said he played the “worst match” of his career in a loss to veteran Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open in August, just a week before the start of the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz’s issues from Cincinnati carried over to New York City, but whatever they were now seem to hav dissipated in the wake of his victory over Sinner in Beijing.
Now, Alcaraz is once again on top of his game entering this week’s Shanghai Masters where he is slated to face China’s Juncheng Shang in the round of 64.
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