Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz met again at the Cincinnati Open final, the last stop before the US Open. Perhaps predictably, as these two tennis players seem to be one or two steps above everyone else, and as the top seeded players, they would only clash in a final. However, it did not end as expected.
This was the fourth final between the two this year: Alcaraz won in Rome and Roland Garros, but Sinner dominated at Wimbledon, and seemed unstoppable, especially on hard courts, where he was defending the 1,000 Cincinnati points from last year and the 2,000 from the US Open. Alcaraz, however, had nothing to lose, and a lot to win in his goal to reclaim the World No. 1...
Yet, in the end, Sinner had some problems and retired after 23 minutes. It didn't seem physical, so he should be fit for the US Open next week, but he wasn't fit to play the final tonight...
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LIVE: Alcaraz vs. Sinner live at Cincinnati final live:
Set 1
Sinner 0 - 1 Alcaraz: The match started the best possible way for Alcaraz, breaking Sinner's serve in the first game.
Sinner 0 - 3 Alcaraz: Sinner won the first points, but he seems strangely uncomfortable, and Alcaraz breaks his second serve and gets a considerably leverage.
Sinner 0 - 5 Alcaraz: Alcaraz still doesn't find much resistance from Sinner and grasps the first set of the match. Sinner makes a double fault, gives the fifth game to Alcaraz, his face clearly showing how worried he is.
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END OF MATCH: After talking with Cincinnati doctors, Sinner throws in the towel. He retires without even finishing the first set, with a serious face. Alcaraz writes "Sorry Sinner" on the camera.
Sinner and Alcaraz look sad, serious, but for Alcaraz this is, after all, good news, as he adds one of the few major trophies he still lacked: he reached Cincinnati Open in 2023 but lost to Djokovic. The win also means that Alcaraz gets closer to Sinner in the race for World No. 1
Sinner: "I'm super super sorry to disappoint you", said Sinner, who since yesterday was feeling bad, but still tried to play "a short match". In the end, it was not enough. He gets a warm ovation.
"Keep it up, I wish you the best for the US Open and the rest of the season", says Sinner. "I'm very sorry to disappoint", repeats Sinner to his team.
Alcaraz: "I know, I can understand how you can feel right now, I can't say anything you don't know already, but I'm sure that from this situation you will come stronger".
After that, smiling more, Alcaraz thanked his team and the fans, as he gets the Cincinnati Open trophy for the first time.