The moment that all the viewers were waiting for after the Indian Wells draw has arrived. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner face each other this Saturday (9:30 pm) for a place in the final of the first Masters 1000 of the season, a top-level match full of incentives… and pending accounts.
The two players tipped to dominate world tennis for the next decade will face each other in what will be their eighth meeting. Sinner dominated the head-to-head 4-3, winning the last two games (Miami and Beijing) and, on top of that, he’s the fittest tennis player in the world right now.
An impressive 19-0 in their last 19 games (all victories in 2024 and three from the last Davis Cup) accumulate transalpine, which this year won the Australian Open and the Rotterdam tournament.
For his part, Sinner has a thorn from last year’s semifinal, when Alcaraz won 7-6(4) and 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes. The Italian also did not forget his defeat in the quarterfinals of the 2022 US Open in a spectacular match that lasted more than five hours and ended at almost three in the morning with victory for the Spaniard.
“Carlos is always fun to play with. We are good friends off the beaten path. On the court, we just try to give one hundred percent to each of us,” the Italian said in a press conference after defeating Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals.
“It’s not just Carlos. There are other players who have made me grow as a player. When you reach this level, you have to work again for different things. He can definitely change a couple of things trying to beat me. I have to be ready. If he beats me, we’ll have to go back to working on the little details. I think it’s really cool and beautiful to look at.” he added.
In its part, Alcaraz arrived at his best moment of the season. After showing doubts at the Australian Open and the Buenos Aires tournament and suffering a severe sprain of his ankle in Rio de Janeiro, the Murcian rediscovered his best version on the Californian grounds.
Resounding victories over Auger-Aliassime (6-2, 6-3), Fabian Marozsan (6-3, 6-3) and, above all, Alexander Zverev (6-3, 6-1) They allowed him to regain his lost confidence and face the conflict with maximum assurance.
Despite everything, the current champion knows the difficulty that comes with the challenge. “He is the best tennis player in the world today, without a doubt. He’s playing incredibly well, undefeated this year. I enjoy watching him play so it will be a very tough match.. “It’s going to be a great challenge for me to see what my level is,” he declared after his victory against Zverev in a duel marked by the invasion of bees that caused the match to be suspended for almost two hours.
In case the match lacks incentive, the number 2 in the world ranking is also at stake.. They come into their duel with the Italian almost in the lead, with 8,310 points, compared to the 8,205 of the Spaniard, who will directly defend his number two. If he wins he will keep it because it will add 8,455.
In the event of a loss, Alcaraz will drop to third placehis worst ranking since rising from fourth to first, becoming the youngest number one in ATP history, at age 19, on September 12, 2022, after winning the US Open.
Source: La Verdad
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