World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz heaped praise on Jannik Sinner in the aftermath of his straight-sets defeat at the China Open and vowed to learn from his fourth defeat in their budding rivalry.
Alcaraz began their much-anticipated semifinal clash in high gear, but his game fell apart after losing a close first set. Sinner recovered from an early deficit to win 7-6, 6-1, a few minutes shy of two hours. And for the second time, Sinner has now taken control in the series which he leads 4-3.
The young Italian is expected to have a psychological edge in the matchup having beaten Alcaraz twice in a row. Alcaraz, who tried to incorporate different tactics during the match, couldn't execute his game plan. His attempt to contain Sinner's power proved futile, too, but he admits he'll go back to the drawing board and learn.
"I couldn't do what I always did, I tried to play deeper (on the court) but I couldn't. I tried to play with another tactic, but it didn't go well in that part either. This is another thing I'll have to learn if I want to beat Jannik."
"Then in the second set, I was mentally out [of it]. I was complaining too much, something that really makes it difficult for you to play at your best level, that's what it means to be angry with yourself. This is what happened."
Alcaraz and Sinner are expected to carry the mantle as the leaders of the Next Gen project. They have now contested seven ATP matches between them and none has been a dull affair. Despite coming second best, and failing to take his chances, the 20-year-old Spaniard applauded his older rival calling him 'a complete player'.
"Against players like Jannik, if you don't take advantage of those opportunities, it's harder to win or stay ahead on the scoreboard. That's something I have to learn about."
"He is a very complete player, he did almost everything well, he pushes you to the limit with every shot. You have to hit every ball perfectly if you want to be alive at the point. Even if you think you hit the ball very well, very well, he can even return it harder than yours. This is something he does really well, very well."
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