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Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner - Indian Wells 2024
ATP Tennis Players, Carlos Alcaraz, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments

Carlos Alcaraz ends ‘predictable’ Jannik Sinner’s winning streak to reach Indian Wells final


Carlos Alcaraz has brought an end to Jannik Sinner’s 19-match winning streak, with the Spaniard reaching a second successive final at Indian Wells.

Alcaraz became the first man to beat the Australian Open champion this year, fighting back to win 1-6 6-3 6-2 in a rain delayed semi-final in California.

After the match, the 20-year-old revealed what he believed the key to gaining victory was, “I stayed strong mentally. I think that’s a really important part in this game. You have to be strong mentally if you want to overcome these kind of matches, a set down against someone that’s playing an unbelievable game.”

He continued, “I changed my style a little bit, I changed my game a little bit and I think it worked very well. I’m really happy to beat Jannik and be in the final again.

“I had to run more… defend better than I did in the first set. I kept more balls in and stayed strong on the court. We played a lot of long rallies but I stopped missing the second, third, fourth balls.”

As a result of Alcaraz beating Sinner in the Indian Wells semi-final for a second successive year, the Murcian will remain as world No.2 when the ATP rankings are updated tomorrow.

Losing is not something Sinner has become used to in recent months, with his last defeat coming in the ATP Finals final to Novak Djokovic in November.

Sinner reflected on his performance after the match, labelling it as ‘too predictable’, “I was too predictable at some points. I was doing the same things over and over again, which in my mind let me down. I was playing really good the first set. Then when you see your opponent struggling a little bit, I tried to stay solid instead of trying to move around.

“I was too predictable at some points. I think that’s the lesson for today. We will work on certain things and hopefully I will get better.”

The world No.3 added, “I missed a lot of forehands where usually I try to be aggressive. I made the mistakes. We have to understand why and that’s it. I think it was still a great match. I think we both played really good. There were some entertaining rallies.”

Although his winning streak is now over, Sinner does appear to be feeling positive heading into the Miami Open, where he is a two-time runner-up.

“I’ve been positive throughout this winning streak,” said Sinner. “Even now because I lost in the semis of Indian Wells, which is still a great result.

“The next tournament is Miami. So I’m focused already on Miami. For sure it’s tough that it has to end like this here (in Indian Wells) because for me this is a really special place to play but I feel grateful for what I’m doing.”

Alcaraz will remain focussed on Indian Wells for the time being, as he looks to become the first man to defend the singles title since the aforementioned Djokovic in 2016.

The Wimbledon champion will take on Daniil Medvedev later today, in a rematch of the final last year.

Inside the baseline…

Carlos Alcaraz is well and truly back, if he was ever gone in the first place that is! What a statement to make to beat the inform player on the ATP Tour, especially after losing the first set so convincingly. The Spaniard will be brimming with confidence ahead of the final tonight in Indian Wells, especially as he knows exactly how to beat Daniil Medvedev on this very stage.

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.