Was Sinner spooked by Alcaraz?

Is this the best Alcaraz has ever played? Yes, he said it himself and this is certainly the best he has played against Jannik Sinner. After the chaos caused by the arrival of Donald Trump, the match eventually started an hour later than the scheduled start time. Alcaraz broke Sinner in the very first game and completely dismantled him to win the set 6-2 in under an hour. The Italian had absolutely no answer to anything that Alcaraz was throwing at him. It wasn't the usual stuff though. There was no trickery from Alcaraz or hardly any sprinkling of stardust. Alcaraz rocked up and decided to play like his opponent, being very stingy and patient with rallies. Alcaraz was prepared to be boring and Sinner got destroyed at his own game in the first hour. The Spaniard had a blip in the second set, like he often does and went 3-0 down which resulted in him losing the set 6-3. In a funny way, it looked like Sinner was trying to impersonate Alcaraz when he was riling up the crowd and frequently pumping his fist which is unlike him. That told a story. Alcaraz had gotten into Sinner's head and made him go away from his natural game. Even though it was one set apiece, the match never looked to be in balance. Alcaraz always looked the better player and the favorite to win it. The Arthur Ashe Arena was finally full by the time second set came to a finish. As the crowd anticipated another five set epic, Alcaraz cruised through the first five games of the third set to dismantle the Italian. The story wasn't too different in the fourth set. Sinner's first serve percentage fell off a cliff as he lost the set 6-4 to lose the US open final and the number one ranking to his biggest rival. 

That was not the first or the last time Alcaraz and Sinner played each other but the match and the aftermath of it resembled something very peculiar. The fact is that these two have distanced themselves from the rest to be the two best players in the world by a distance, so much so that the third best in the ATP rankings is 5000 points away. This duopoly doesn't seem to fade at least for the next decade. So until a Djokovic arrives to disturb this 'Federer-Nadal' like rivalry, they just have to fight each other probably for every major final. The good thing is that both of them will have only one opponent to think of because of how average in comparison the rest of the players are. The scary thing is that if either player starts to get the better of the other, there is nowhere to hide. There is nobody else who could knock one of them out and the other one gets an easier final. Sinner in the press conference looked like what Alcaraz did after the Wimbledon final, confused and searching for answers. Sinner confessed that he was predictable and needs to add more variety to his game. He even said he is prepared to lose some matches in order to achieve his goals. What has made the rivalry so riveting is the two completely contrasting playing styles. Sinner's game is modelled around being stingy and forcing the opponent to make errors, much like Djokovic who has carved out the greatest career in tennis by playing high percentage tennis. Alcaraz, on the opposite end of the spectrum, is much like Federer with plenty of variety in shots and the game in itself almost based on instincts. Alcaraz is naturally the more talented of the two, hence he can suddenly decide to play like someone else and execute it. If that doesn't work out, he can always fall back on his own style. Sinner, on the other hand has limitations to his game. He has a great forehand which is like a liquid whip, a backhand which is the best of anyone except Djokovic, a very good serve and monster mentality. Now, two of the four aspects were hurt in the US Open final last Sunday. The serve was horribly out of order. The first serve percentage in the fourth set was 36 compared to Alcaraz's 72. The serve is fundamentally important to Sinner's game which lays the base for everything else to follow. And Alcaraz had already spooked Sinner by playing the high percentage Tennis right from the first set. The problem with Sinner is that if any one of his three best shots go missing on a day, he doesn't have anything to fall back on. If Sinner really goes away and tries to tweak his game ahead of Australia, it will be a fun experiment to witness irrespective of the end product. 

Sinner has 4 months to prepare for defending his slam in Melbourne which Alcaraz needs to complete the career slam. Ironically, Sinner needs the French Open which Alcaraz has won twice in the last two years. The Italian is usually very good in the Asian swing and the indoor season in the build up to Australia. In contrast, Alcaraz has traditionally been very average during this part of the calendar which could be one the reasons for the Australian Open to be his weakest slam. If the Spaniard takes care of his body and avoids the burnout, he looks set to dethrone Sinner in Melbourne to complete the career slam.