Carlos Alcaraz has revealed how he’s really feeling about having to play Jannik Sinner in yet another final tomorrow.
Their Cincinnati Open showdown marks the fourth straight final that these two have competed in, following the Spaniard’s successes in Paris and Rome, and the world number one’s triumph at Wimbledon.
Theirs is a rivalry that promises to go down in history, and already, we have enjoyed some extraordinary matches between the two.
And, with their mutual growth, what used to be clashes midway through events have now become solely final meetings, vying for the title.
As touched upon earlier, losing their most recent match might be enough to strike fear into most opponents. Not Carlos Alcaraz, though.
Carlos Alcaraz previews his Cincinnati Open final vs Jannik Sinner
In fact, speaking to the press after his semi-final win over Alexander Zverev, the 22-year-old actually admitted that he could not wait to face Jannik Sinner again.
He claimed: “I’m excited about it. It’s gonna be great.
“So, yeah, he won the last one. I won the first two finals. So I think it’s gonna be really interesting.
“I think it’s, if I’m not wrong, it is the first final on a hard court. If I’m not wrong.
“So, I’m excited about that and taking that challenge. I know that Jannik is, without a doubt, the best player in the world on hard courts and probably on every surface right now, so it’s going to be a really great match. I have to be ready for that, you know, seeing what I did wrong, you know, in the last match, and I’m going to try to make it better on Monday.
“So I just, I’m glad to be in another final. I think it’s my seventh in a row, the fourth against Jannik. So it’s going to be a great day.”
Alcaraz sent a message to Zverev after their match, wishing him well as he was clearly hampered by illness.
Carlos Alcaraz is quietly dominating 2025
Whilst Sinner might have two Grand Slam titles in 2025, and a massive lead at the top of the ATP rankings, few can argue against Alcaraz’s dominance throughout the year.
After all, there was a huge three-month period where the Italian was absent due to his ban from the sport, which allowed Alcaraz to monopolise events in Rotterdam, Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, although he did lose the final of the latter.
The Cincinnati Open marks his seventh consecutive final, which is a really impressive run for a player many consider to be wildly unpredictable and inconsistent.
It feels like that narrative is born from one or two poor early-round performances, rather than his general form as a whole.
Alcaraz is undeniably one of the world’s top two players, and could still finish 2025 at the top of the rankings.
