Alcaraz rallies past Sinner to win China Open title

Carlos Alcaraz rallied from a set down and held his nerve in a deciding tiebreak to beat defending champion Jannik Sinner 6-7 (8-6) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in the China Open final and win his fourth title of the season.

The Spaniard won seven straight points in the decisive tiebreaker to extend his recent mastery over his biggest rival, who is dealing with an ongoing doping case.

The third-ranked Alcaraz has now won all three of his meetings with Sinner this year, having also come out on top in semi-finals at Indian Wells and the French Open.

Alcaraz also ended Sinner’s winning streak at 14 matches and denied the Italian three straight titles after trophies in Cincinnati and at the US Open.

“It was a really close match,” said Alcaraz. “Jannik showed once again that he’s the best player in the world, at least for me, the level that he’s playing is unbelievable.

“I had my chances in the first set, didn’t make it. But in general I’m proud of myself with the way that I dealt with the match, the way that I managed everything.

“I’m really happy that in the third set. Even though he broke my serve again and it was really close, I gave myself the chance to keep going, playing aggressively and I’m really happy that I made it.”

Sinner, who was the defending champion in Beijing, had to refocus after the World Anti-Doping Agency announced on Saturday it was appealing a decision to clear him of wrongdoing following two positive steroid tests.

Alcaraz wasted a 5-2 lead in the first set and also let Sinner get back in the third after leading 4-2 before eventually edging it out after also falling behind 3-0 in the final-set tiebreaker.

Sinner and Alcaraz have accounted for all four grand slam titles this year between them – evenly split at two each: Sinner won the Australian Open and the US Open while Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon.

Alcaraz improved to 6-4 in his career against Sinner after their 10th meeting in what has become tennis’s top rivalry following the 60 matches between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

WADA is seeking a ban of one to two years for Sinner in a case that might not be resolved before Sinner begins the defence of his Australian Open title in January.

Sinner tested positive twice for an anabolic steroid in March but was not banned in a decision by an independent tribunal announced by the International Tennis Integrity Agency in August because the ITIA determined he was not to blame.

Sinner’s accepted explanation was the banned performance-enhancer entered his system unintentionally through a massage from his physiotherapist, who had used a spray containing the steroid to treat his own cut finger.