"Now he's very consistent": Jannik Sinner wary of Carlos Alcaraz's one particular skill ahead of US Open final clash

Italy’s Jannik Sinner has highlighted what has made Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz even more dangerous ahead of the US Open. Both players are set to face off in the final of the Grand Slam for the third time this year. Sinner and Alcaraz first face off in the final of the French Open, where the young Spaniard came out on top in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.

That victory was extremely special for Alcaraz, who managed to save three championship points in the fourth set and came back from two sets down to secure a win in a match which lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of Grand Slams in the Open era.

Sinner did not take long to take his revenge on Alcaraz as he defeated him in the final of Wimbledon with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The two will once again face off in the final of a major event on Sunday at the Flashing Meadows in New York. Sinner, who is also a defending champion in the competition, defeated Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal with a score of 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

On the other hand, Alcaraz maintained his superb form as he defeated former world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinal in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. It was Alcaraz’s sixth consecutive straight-set win in the competition. Sinner spoke to the media after the match, where he was asked about what makes Alcaraz even more dangerous going into the match. In response to that, Sinner highlighted the improvement in Alcaraz’s serve, which makes it extremely hard to face him. Sinner also stated that the improvement is perhaps the result of gaining more experience over the years, and he believes that he has improved certain areas of his game as well.

“He [Alcaraz] has improved a lot on the serve,” said Sinner. “I feel like he's serving much better with a better pace, but the percentage is very high all the time. Much more solid, for example, because maybe before it was, there were more ups and downs, now he's very consistent. Also, if you watch all the tournaments, he's going very, very far. So, many, many improvements but I always say that when you're young, one year or two years, they make a big difference. I feel the same with me. I mean, the serving has gotten better. My net game has improved. It's not there yet where I would love to, but we are working on it and also the movement, like the physical shape is better. Back in the days, I was maybe struggling a little bit if we go three, four sets and now I feel fine. So, yeah, I think we improved.”

Overall, it will be the fifth consecutive tournament final this year between Sinner and Alcaraz. Since the start of the Rome Masters, Alcaraz and Sinner have now faced each other in the final of every event where they featured together. Sinner was asked about how it feels to face the same player in every single competition. He was given an example of a similar question that was asked to Roger Federer during his playing days about facing Rafael Nadal in the final every time. In response to that, Sinner stated that it is ‘great’ to face a player like Alcaraz. Sinner stated that he loves ‘challenging’ himself against the best players in the world and also highlighted that Alcaraz brings the best out of him.

“Well, it's, I mean, yes and no, that's what Roger said,” said Sinner while referring to the response of Federer when he was asked back in the day whether he likes to face Nadal so many times in the final. “I feel like it's, we all think the same way, but I love these challenges, I love to put myself in these positions and he's someone who pushes me to the limit, which is great because then you have the best feedback you can have as a player. We have faced each other quite a lot now lately, and also things are getting a little bit different. Always when we step on court, we are aware of maybe more things because we try to prepare the match tactically in different ways. But sometimes it's also nice not to play against him. But it's nice. As I always said, it's great for the sport having rivalries, having hopefully great matches in front of us and then we see. But I'm someone who loves these challenges and I love to put myself in these positions. On court, we like to see each other, because it means that, considering our ranking, it means that we are doing well in tournaments. Off-court, we bump into each other at times. I don't know if we are happy or not, but no, I think it's great. We have, as I always say, we have a great relationship also off the court and everything is fine, between him and me and also all teams, my team and their team, we are just working hard, but at the same time, we are also normal people, so it's great. I'm looking forward to it.”

Sinner had to take a medical timeout in the second set. He was asked about the reason for it and how he was feeling. In response to that, Sinner stated that he feels fine and that there was nothing major to be concerned about. “Yeah, I just felt small twitching in after a serve, when I served there in the second set on 4-3,” said Sinner. “After the treatment, I was feeling much, much better and at some point I didn't feel anything anymore. I was serving back to normal pace and so it was all good, nothing to worry about. But I preferred to go off-court because it's on a different spot, so it's all good.”