New York (AFP) – Jannik Sinner said he needs to overhaul his “predictable” game to reignite his rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz after suffering the latest in a string of recent defeats to his Spanish nemesis in the US Open on Sunday. As Alcaraz celebrated a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory and his sixth Grand Slam singles title, Sinner was left reflecting on a defeat that means he will be dethroned as world number one by his conqueror.
At first glance, Sinner and Alcaraz will finish 2025 with honors even at the most demanding level of the sport, with two Grand Slam titles apiece. But Sinner has now lost seven of his last eight meetings against Alcaraz, with his lone victory over the Spaniard this year coming in the Wimbledon final in July. That run of results, culminating in Sunday’s loss, is cause for concern for the 24-year-old Italian, who believes a riskier, less “predictable” approach is necessary if he is to keep pace with Alcaraz.
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“I was very predictable today, on court in the way of he did many things, he changed up the game,” Sinner told reporters. “Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know? Definitely, we are going to work on that. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match that I will play against him. It also, I feel like, depends how you arrive to play against Carlos. You know, one thing is when the scoreline, matches before are comfortable but you always do the same things, like I did. For example, during this tournament, I didn’t make one serve-volley, didn’t use a lot of drop shots, and then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos where you have to go out of the comfort zone.”
Sinner said he would be willing to sacrifice results in the short term as he attempts to develop a more rounded game. “I’m going to maybe even lose some matches from now on,” he said. “But trying to do some changes, you know, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do to become a better tennis player.”
Sinner said he felt that Alcaraz, who varied his game beautifully on Sunday—serving superbly while mixing deftness with some thunderous groundstrokes—had himself improved since his defeat to the Italian at Wimbledon. “He has improved,” Sinner said. “I felt like it was a bit cleaner. It felt like he was doing everything slightly better today—especially serving.”
Sinner’s analysis was confirmed by the final statistics. Alcaraz banged down 10 aces, no double faults with a 61% first serve. Sinner could muster only two aces but double-faulted four times while hitting only 48% of his first serves. The Italian said adjustments to his service game will be among his priorities as he looks ahead. “I’m going to change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but you know, they can make big differences,” Sinner said. “Then we see how it goes.”
© 2024 AFP
