MONACO, April 13: Jannik Sinner beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time and reclaim the No. 1 ranking from his biggest tennis rival.
“The result is amazing,” Sinner said. “Getting back to No. 1 means a lot for me.”
Four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner met seven-time major winner Alcaraz in their ninth final in what is often called the “Sincaraz” rivalry.
Sinner trimmed Alcaraz’s head-to-head lead to 10-7 in clinching his 27th career title overall and his first Masters title on clay. The 24-year-old Italian will return to No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday.
Sinner rallied from 3-1 down in the second set amid blustery conditions at the Monte Carlo Country Club and served out the match, clinching it on his first match point when Alcaraz returned a forehand long.
“It was a bit windy, a bit breezy. Different conditions from what the tournament has brought,” Sinner said.
“I am very happy to win a big title on this surface, I haven’t done it before and it means a lot to me.”
Alcaraz had won his last 17 matches on clay but struggled Sunday with 45 unforced errors. However, he praised Sinner.
“It is impressive what you are achieving right now,” Alcaraz said. “Congratulations for everything.”
Sinner dropped to his knees after Alcaraz’s shot landed out and then jogged over to celebrate with his box.
“I felt a bit tired, so I tried to keep the right mentality,” Sinner said. “Having this trophy means a lot to me.”
It was Sinner’s third title of the year after sweeping Indian Wells and Miami — also winning those finals in straight sets — to become only the fourth man to reach the final at the first three Masters of the season. Sinner joined tennis great Novak Djokovic (in 2015) as the only one to win the first three Masters tournaments.
Alcaraz’s two titles this year include the Australian Open, where the 22-year-old Spaniard became the youngest man to win all four tennis majors.
He produced a stunning comeback to beat Sinner in last year’s French Open final, then lost the Wimbledon final to Sinner before beating him again in the U.S. Open final.
NO. 1 RANKING COULD CHANGE WEEKLY
While Alcaraz claimed this year’s first major in Australia, Sinner has now followed up his “Sunshine Double” of hard-court titles in Indian Wells, California, and Miami with another Masters series trophy.
Sinner is on a 17-match winning streak during which he has dropped only one set – in the third round in Monte Carlo against Tomas Machac.
In the new rankings released Monday, Sinner moved 110 points ahead of Alcaraz, who had been No. 1 since November.
“It’s nice, obviously. I would be a liar to say anything else,” Sinner said. “But it doesn’t change my thought process.”
“I’m playing to win tournaments and Carlos and I are very close, so the rankings can change from one week to the next.
“There are two big Slams coming up, Paris and London. Let’s see where we are after those tournaments,” Sinner added.
“Right now, I’m focusing more on those than on the ranking. But waking up again as No. 1 is pretty nice.” In a measure of how far ahead of the rest of the field Sinner and Alcaraz are, third-ranked Alexander Zverev trails Sinner by a whopping 7,795 points.
SINNER’S RETURN POSITION
While tactics were difficult to execute on a windy day in Monaco, Sinner found a solution to apply pressure on Alcaraz’s serve by stepping into the court often.
“Cahill and I are trying to make Jannik more self-reliant,” Vagnozzi said. “He’s getting better at understanding when to try drop shots – which he’s also started hitting with his backhand by taking a hand off the racket.
And then for the return of serve he’s mixing up his position more, which doesn’t provide any reference points to the opponents.” Now Sinner is entering his 67th career week at No. 1 – one more week than Alcaraz’s total of 66. (AP)
