US Open tournament director believes Alcaraz-Sinner quarterfinal eclipsed matches between McEnroe-Borg and Sampras-Agassi - "This was a whole new level"
ATP
The 2022 US Open quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner has gone down in history as an all-time classic. US Open Tournament Director Stacey Allaster was among those who watched the epic five-set clash from very close quarters and believes Alcaraz and Sinner took tennis to a "whole new level."
Allaster stated that the two leading stars of tennis' 'next-gen' took tennis to a level higher than even the rivalries between John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi-Pete Sampras.
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Alcaraz defeated Sinner 6-3 6-7(7) 6-7(0) 7-5 6-3 in a match that lasted for five hours and 15 minutes. Many believe the match produced a quality of tennis better than any other and Allaster agreed with that sentiment.
"We watched McEnroe and Borg and how great they were. Sampras and Agassi and how great that level of tennis is. This was at a whole new level," Stacey Allaster said during an episode of 'Courtside: The US Open Podcast.'
Allaster believes the US Open match was just one of the first in what will end up being a great rivalry. The former WTA CEO further opined that Alcaraz and Sinner proved to the tennis world that they are ready to take over the mantle from the current generation of men's tennis, headlined by the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer.
"I really think that match is the beginning of a new rivalry...The next generation stands on the shoulders of the previous generation and they take the sport to the next level," she continued. "Sometimes, it takes a while for that to kick in. These guys proved to the world that they're not just ready, they took it to the next level. That's really always amazing, right?"
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Allaster was at the center of it all at the US Open as the tournament director and believes the Alcaraz-Sinner match captured the attention of fans and spectators like none other. She called it the "best match I've ever seen."
"That Sinner-Alcaraz match was the best match I've ever seen in my life," expressed the tournament director.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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