Carlos Alcaraz consolidated his position at the top of the men’s tennis pyramid with an almost-faultless US Open campaign.
It culminated in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over his great rival Jannik Sinner, who was the only player capable of even taking a set off him during the 15 days of the fourth and final major of the season.
No match between them may ever live up to the French Open thriller, but those who were able to take their seats on Arthur Ashe Stadium will not have been left wanting.
At Wimbledon, it was Sinner who triumphed with a route-one approach of a powerful serve and dominant ground strokes, but he did not look his usual self in the final at Flushing Meadows.
Whether due to any lingering effects of an abdominal problem sustained in the semi-final win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, he was far from the impassive figure that typically stalks the baseline picking off his opponents with ease.
It is a credit to Sinner that even as he struggled to deal with the unpredictability of Alcaraz, he was the only player capable of taking more than a solitary game off his opponent’s serve.
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