Jannik Sinner may have to revise his Carlos Alcaraz comments after China Open win
Have we just witnessed a significant moment in men’s tennis?
Jannik Sinner came into the China Open suggesting Carlos Alcaraz was the man to beat in the absence of Novak Djokovic from the Far East swing of the ATP Tour, but he may just have confirmed he is the form man heading into the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner’s demolition of Alcaraz in Tuesday’s semi-final in Beijing was backed up by a thrilling performance from the Italian in the Final, as he beat Daniil Medvedev for the first time after six previous defeats against the Russian.
The Italian sealed a comprehensive 7-6(2), 7-6(2) as he bossed Medvedev in the decisive tie-breaks and clinched the ATP 500 title in impressive fashion.
“Daniil, thanks for letting me win at least one match,” Sinner joked as he collected his trophy. “We have had some very tough battles, especially this year.
“Thanks for making me a much better player. I have been training a lot to beat you. My team are working a lot. Thank you very much and it is special to share this moment with you.
“It means a lot. I felt like I was prepared for this match today. I’ve lost many times against him.
“It feels great especially when you beat a player you’ve never won against and this was a positive week.
“I had to overcome some tough challenges and I’m very proud of myself, how I handled the situations. It has been awesome.”
Sinner’s performances against Alcaraz and Medvedev suggest he may now be emerging as the next big threat to Djokovic at the top of the game.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion currently has a 3-0 winning record against Sinner, but he was pushed all the way by the Italian at Wimbledon last year in a five-set battle.
Now Sinner will look to build on his latest title win and he may have to revise his pre-tournament suggestions that Alcaraz is still in a different league to him after he moved ahead in their head-to-head battle by his win on Tuesday.
READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz makes brutally honest confession after Jannik Sinner humbling
“I would be happy to be the rival of Carlos, for sure,” said Sinner. “I feel like I have the potential to do that.
“I have to improve physically because I feel like I have a lot of potential physically.
“That’s also the reason why I [have] played less tournaments this year than last year, because I have to prepare the body to win the big tournaments.
“It’s going to be a question that will be answered in the future. But, let’s see. It’s all about the future. We can’t say what’s happening.
“I think, at the moment, he’s still a better player.
“He has shown this. He was No. 1 in the world already a couple of times.
“At the moment, the biggest rivalry is him and Novak. But every time we play against each other, it’s a really good match. I think we both show the best out of ourselves.”
Sinner’s insistence that he still have a long way to go before he is considered to be one of the game’s top players has been shaken in China over the last few days.
He is now a live contender for the biggest prizes in the men’s game and he needs to believe it.
