The fox is still on the prowl at the Masters 1000 level.
Jannik Sinner won his fourth consecutive 1000-point title — third in a row this season — by defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters on Sunday afternoon. Sinner did not drop a single set in Indian Wells and Miami while completing the Sunshine Double and he lost only one in Monte-Carlo (in a tiebreaker against Tomas Machac during their third-round match).
It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing for the Italian in Sunday’s championship match despite another straight-set scoreline. Amidst slow and windy conditions, it was a back-and-forth affair with plenty of amazing shots but also far too many unforced errors. The costliest one came in the form of an Alcaraz double-fault down set point in the tiebreaker.
Sinner fell behind by a break early in the second but reeled off the last five games of the match to clinch victory after two hours and 15 minutes.
In addition to the title, the No. 1 ranking as also at stake. Sinner will be back in the top spot on Monday and figures to remain there for all or most of the clay-court swing given their respective number of points to defend. Alcaraz temporarily get it back, however, this coming week in Barcelona.
“It’s impressive what you are achieving right now,” the Spaniard told Sinner during the trophy ceremony. “It’s something incredible. Just congratulations for everything and for the work you are doing with your team. To my team: it wasn’t the end we wanted, but we had a lot of fun this week — we enjoyed every single day here.”
“You are doing amazing things year after year,” Sinner told Alcaraz. “Facing you, especially in final, makes [winning] even more special.”
nice one, fox
Ricky
What are your wider context thoughts on this match and result?
Heres mine;
For Sinner
– winning a big match between them when both arent playing great is mentally huge
– sinner is now 3-1 in the last 4 completed matches between the two, a win on all 3 surfaces
– i kind of think he should skip madrid and rest the body cause hes played alot of tennis recently
And prepare for rome & RG
For alcaraz
– needs a complete reset on this year
After the AO he needs to be clear about the goals for the rest of the season
– didnt play well at all and still almost won the 1st set
– that should give him confidence to reach his top level this clay swing
– for him i think reps will be good if he plays a full clay schedule barca, madrid, rome and RG
If both met tommorow in RG final
Sinner wins for me
But theres plently of time between now and then for things to change
Sounds like a very reasonable assessment to me, Lee, FWIW. Enjoyed reading. It makes following tennis even more fun to read comments like this, for me.
I always wonder how long and hard people can push themselves before they get injured and/or sick of it. It seems to me Alcaraz is at a lower risk of burning out than Sinner because he takes more breaks and isn’t quite as serious about it. For him enjoyment is an important part of tennis and he doesn’t seem to beat himself up if he doesn’t play to his usual standard at times, which I think is healthy. The smiles and body language on him are good to see.
Well done Sinner, not the usual quality of play you usually get from these two players, an error strewn match, tells the tale
Probably the one matchup either player is at significant risk of losing. That might make them less confident. Also they usually meet at the pointy end of the tournament where they aren’t fresh anymore. I’ve not looked at these statistics but I bet they make less errors in exhibition matches where they are fresh and there’s less pressure too.
Sinner did look the better player going in but significant win a Masters on clay.
Plus this amazing win streak on Masters 1000s
Talking of Masters win streaks, well dome Rory amazing
Rory too good
Yeah he really clinched it on the 12-13 . Becoming one of the best players ever . I’m from his part of the world ,pity he sold his house here Caroline Woxniacki once stayed