Alcaraz Has Solved Sinner—Can Jannik Flip the Script at Wimbledon?
Edition #261
Different publishing time today with the finals being at 11:00 AM EST.
Wimbledon, ENGLAND — Once again, it’s Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz. World No. 1 vs World No. 2. The 23-year-old vs the 22-year-old. The Italian vs the Spaniard. I could go on and on and on.
Now, entering this matchup, Alcaraz is on a roll. Recently, he won the HSBC Championships, the French Open before that, and the Italian Open before that. In fact, his last loss came on April 20th, in the Barcelona Open. Plus, uh, so far the last two years, he hasn’t lost to Sinner. When they played their first final against each other earlier this year at Roland Garros, Alcaraz came down two sets to take the win against Sinner.
On the other hand, Sinner has already made both Grand Slam Finals this year and made his third at Wimbledon this year. He won against Zverev in straight sets at the Australian Open and gave up a two-set lead to Alcaraz at the French Open. He’s looking for revenge in the finals this year.
A couple of things to note here:
Sinner has an 0–6 record in matches lasting over three hours and 50 minutes.
Alcaraz has a 12–1 career record in fifth sets.
Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 8–4.
As Taylor Fritz said after his loss to Alcaraz in the semifinals, Alcaraz’s versatility is his biggest strength. Especially against Sinner. He’s proven he can beat Sinner when the stakes are high, and Sinner has proven that he can crumble even with a two-set lead. Alcaraz is always hungry for a win, and it’s pretty remarkable what he’s doing at the age he’s doing it at.
Alcaraz just finding answers for Sinner isn’t going to help him win. If Alcaraz can find answers for Sinner and use his variety of strokes, then he will win. This isn’t little kids’ tennis anymore. Just returning everything isn’t going to help him win. This is the Wimbledon Finals, against the World No. 1, but Alcaraz definitely knows what he’s doing. Geometry was the helpful key last time around. What’s he going to do on grass?
On the other hand, Sinner needs to put pressure on Alcaraz. He needs to dominate with his groundstrokes, and he needs to control Alcaraz. Alcaraz is competitive. He’s versatile. Sinner needs to keep Carlos from unraveling. That way, he can angle shots and win the game. It doesn’t matter what; Sinner needs to use geometry, and he needs to grind out the game. Sinner absolutely has to trust himself because he can win, and he needs to dominate on serves.
I would have loved to expand on this, but didn’t get much time to do so. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the short breakdown.
