Jannik Sinner remained perfect at the Six Kings Slam, winning his second straight title at the lucrative exhibition event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia by beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday night.
Sinner trails the overall head-to-head series 10-5, but the 24-year-old Italian has now defeated the 22-year-old Spaniard twice in a row at this six-man tournament.
“It’s great to have rivals–we have a great rivalry,” Sinner assured. “But we also have a special friendship. It’s always nice to share the court with Carlos…. Especially this season we (have) played many, many times; I lost also many times against Carlos. It’s a huge pleasure and and and an honor to share the court with him, but at the same time, you want to get better as a tennis player.
“It’s nice to have a great rivalry and also–more importantly–a great friendship off the court. We have a very, very special, special friendship, and it’s very nice.”
Of course, friendships are set aside on the court–and Sinner showed no mercy in Sunday’s final. The four-time Grand Slam champion broke Alcaraz in the first game of the match and never looked back. He won more than 80 percent of his service points and did not face a single break point.
“He played great today,” Alcaraz assessed. “He didn’t let me get a good rhythm. He was improving a lot the serve, and I could feel it. No break points today, which for me is something weird, that I’m used to (having) at least one break point in the match. But when he’s serving really [well], it’s really difficult to play. I couldn’t find a solution today, so I think he deserved it.”
Sinner now heads directly to Vienna for the Erste Bank Open. The world No. 2 headlines a strong field that also features Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Alexander Bublik.
Alcaraz is off until the Paris Masters, which is followed by the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
nice one, Fox