Carlos Alcaraz claimed victory in the US Open final beating close rival Jannik Sinner 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 in a blistering match which the Spaniard has been preparing for since Wimbledon in July.
This season Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the grand slam titles between them with Sinner triumphing at the Australian Open before Alcaraz dug deep to claim the French Open title. At Wimbledon, Sinner swept Alcaraz aside in four sets ending his pursuit of a third consecutive victory at SW19.
That loss resulted in a period of reflection and renewed focus for Alcaraz who, combined with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, devised a specific training plan to target Sinner’s weaknesses.
For two weeks Alcaraz and Ferrero assessed the finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon to break down Sinner’s game and identify where Alcaraz needed to improve before a potential meeting in New York.
“Let's say we watch little bit the matches, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. We try to see the little things that we can improve to play against Jannik,” Ferrero said.
“I think it was very important, because we maybe practiced for 15 days, like, very focused on the details that we have to improve to play against Jannik. We know that in this kind of surface, on hard courts, Jannik is always very difficult to play and winning a lot of matches.
“I think it helps a lot, because [Carlos] realised what he has to improve a lot, and I was very focused on it.”
The training evidently worked and an uncharacteristically flustered Sinner acknowledged how Alcaraz had improved his game in between the two grand slams.
“He has improved. I felt like was a bit cleaner today. You know, the things what I did well in London, he did better today,” Sinner explained.
“I felt like he was doing everything slightly better, especially serving, both sides, both swings very clean. That's it, you know. I give lots of credit to him, because he handled the situation better than I did.
“He raised his level when he had to. I'm still proud of myself, about the season I'm playing and making. But yeah, he played better than me.”
Ferrero labelled Alcaraz’s performance in New York as ‘perfect’ and the new world No.1 agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“Well, it's great when you make your coach feel that way,” Alcaraz said. “It is not easy. He has a big status. He always want me to play at my best, and not too many times I would say he said that I played perfectly. So for me, it's a great win.
“But he's right. I think I played perfect. I played perfectly. I mean, I got to say that. If I want to win, you know, the US Open, if I want to beat Jannik, I have to play perfect, and I think he was right.”
