Jannik Sinner, the top seed, retired from the Cincinnati Open, giving the Italian a chance to recover from a bout of illness, which worried Carlos Alcaraz, who is now in the process of defending his US Open title in New York.
When his ailing rival, who had a lead of 5-0 in the first set of the final on Monday, signaled he couldn’t continue winning, the Spanish second seed snapped the world number one’s 26-match winning streak on hardcourts.
After winning his third Masters 1000 crown of the year in Monte Carlo and Rome, Alcaraz told Sinner: “I just have to say sorry, I can understand how you must feel now.”
You are a true champion, as I have stated before, and I can assure you that, in these circumstances, you will come back stronger than you always do. True champions do that, too.
Sinner had been vying to win back-to-back Cincinnati titles, joining Roger Federer in 2015, but he initially appeared uneasy in the sweltering conditions.
After 23 minutes of play, he called it quits.
Sinner apologized to the audience, saying, “I’m so sorry for your disappointment.” “I didn’t feel great yesterday. I anticipated an improvement during the night, but it didn’t.
I made an effort to get out, at least for a small match, but I was unable to handle more, so I’m so sorry.
Sinner’s concerns about the US Open
Additionally, it was not clear whether Sinner and Katerina Siniakova would be able to compete in the newly revamped mixed doubles competition scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Sunday, the hardcourt major’s singles action begins.
The two world’s best players had previously faced off in the title match against the previous two majors, so Monday’s clash was anticipated to be a dress rehearsal before the anticipated final showdown between them on Monday.
At Roland Garros, Alcaraz came from two sets down to win, while Sinner won at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz’s head-to-head record extended to 9-5 with a 6-2 advantage on hardcourts as a result of Monday’s result.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply