Alcaraz, Sinner continue epic rivalry in US Open final to be watched by Trump

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz cemented their rivalry as the great saga of this era in men’s tennis as they booked themselves a championship showdown for the third grand slam in a row at the US Open in New York.

They will compete before a packed house on centre court in New York that is expected to include US President Donald Trump, with tournament organisers warning of enhanced security procedures for Sunday afternoon’s final (Monday morning AEST).

Alcaraz, the world No.2, defeated 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets to reach his seventh major final, while Sinner needed four to overcome Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime – who achieved a serious return to form at the tournament despite his eventual loss to the world No.1 and defending champ.

With the win, Sinner etched his name in the history books by becoming just the fourth man in the Open Era to reach the final of all four grand slams in a calendar year. The others are Australia’s Rod Laver in 1969, as well as Roger Federer and Djokovic, who each completed the feat three times. Laver remains the only man to have won all four to achieve a calendar grand slam.

Alcaraz’s only failure to reach a grand slam final this year was in Melbourne, where he lost the quarter-final to Djokovic.

The rivalry between Sinner, 24, and Alcaraz, 22, was already the dominant storyline of the present tennis epoch, with the two men establishing a clear lead over the rest of the tour. Once the US Open is complete, they will have shared the past eight grand slams between them.

Alcaraz leads their career head-to-head record nine to five (three to two in grand slams), and has had the best of Sinner in recent meets, except for Wimbledon.

The Spaniard said it was intimidating to play against someone of Djokovic’s record in a semi-final, and that it was impressive the Serb had reached that stage at every grand slam this year and continued to challenge the next generation despite his age.

But Djokovic, 38, looked gassed later in the match, and later admitted that’s how he felt as he struggled to keep up with Alcaraz for speed, stamina and creativity. Five set tennis against the top young players was going to be difficult, he said, particularly towards the end of a two-week grand slam.

“I’m happy with my level of tennis. It’s just the physicality of it … that’s something unfortunately at this point in time in my career I can’t control,” Djokovic said.

“It’s frustrating on the court when you are not able to keep up with that level physically, but at the same time, it’s something also expected, I guess. It comes with time and with age.”

But amid speculation he could call it quits after the Australian Open, where he has enjoyed his greatest success, Djokovic said he wanted to keep competing in grand slams and hoped to hold a major trophy aloft again.

“I still want to play [a] full grand slam season next year,” he said. “Let’s see whether that’s going to happen or not, but ... slams are slams. They are just different from any other tournament. They are the pillars of our sport, the most important tournaments we have.”

Sinner has been in fine form in New York, dropping only one set on the way to the semi-final, against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in the third round.

His match against Auger-Aliassime, currently ranked 27th in the world, initially looked like it might be another walk in the park, with the Italian registering 10 winners and four unforced errors to take the first set 6-1 in just 27 minutes.

But the Canadian, with support from the crowd, claimed a break in the second with a 159km/h forehand cross-court winner to plant a seed of doubt in the narrative. After losing the set, Sinner was pointing to his abdomen and took an off-court medical timeout.

He quickly returned to form, though, and was consistently able to summon massive serves to get him out of trouble and hold off Auger-Aliassime in key moments. The Canadian former world No.6, who is one year older than Sinner, will rocket back up the rankings after a stellar tournament that included knocking out Australia’s great hope Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final.

Trump’s planned appearance at the final is the latest in a string of major sporting events the president has attended, including the Super Bowl, NCAA wrestling championships, Daytona 500 and FIFA Club World Cup.

He last attended the US Open in 2015, months after launching his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, and was booed by the New York crowd. Before that, he had been a fixture at the tournament.

Alcaraz said it was “great for tennis” to have the president attend the final and support the sport. “For me, playing in front of him … I will try not to think about it. I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it.”

with AP