The Albany Gazette - Alcaraz faces arch-rival Sinner in blockbuster Wimbledon final

Just five weeks after Alcaraz staged one of the all-time great fightbacks to beat Sinner in a classic French Open final, the pair bring their battle for supremacy to Wimbledon's hallowed Centre Court on Sunday.

Alcaraz and Sinner have shared seven of the past eight Grand Slams between them, evenly splitting the six on offer since the start of 2024.

The tennis world has been captivated by the emergence of the new rivalry after the storied era of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Alcaraz is the flashy showman who has stolen the hearts of the Centre Court crowd, while world number one Sinner is Djokovic 2.0 -- a ruthlessly efficient operator who rarely misses.

Two-time defending Wimbledon champion Alcaraz will start as the marginal favourite on Sunday but knows he has to bring his best to keep Sinner at bay.

The Spanish world number two has won eight of his 12 matches against his Italian rival, including the past five.

Their most recent clash was in last month's phenomenal five-and-a-half hour French Open final, when Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to defend his clay-court title.

The 22-year-old, who has five majors under his belt, is on a career-best winning run of 24 matches and is unbeaten at the All England Club since 2022.

But three-time Grand Slam winner Sinner, playing his first Wimbledon final, will take heart from the fact that he was the last man to beat Alcaraz at Wimbledon, in the fourth round three years ago.

The Spaniard, who beat US fifth seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals, does not believe his remarkable comeback in Paris gives him the mental edge.

"I'm pretty sure he's going to take a lot of things from the French Open final," he said.

"He's going to be better physically, he's going to be better mentally. He's going to be prepared to give 100 percent."

Both men have shown vulnerabilities during their runs to the final.

Alcaraz was taken to five sets in his opener against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini and has dropped sets in three of his other matches.

Sinner, 23, was rock solid for three rounds but had an almighty scare -- and a huge slice of luck -- when his fourth-round opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, retired when leading by two sets.

But he swept past US 10th seed Ben Shelton in straight sets and demolished an under-par Djokovic in the semi-finals.

- Mental edge -

The Italian top seed played down the lingering impact of his defeat at Roland Garros.

"I think if it was too much in my head, I would not be in the situation to play a final again," he said.

"I'm very happy to share the court with Carlos once again. It's going to be difficult, I know that.

"But I'm looking forward to it. I always try to put myself in these kind of situations that I really love. Sundays at every tournament are very special."

Alcaraz is attempting to join an elite club of players in the Open era who have won Wimbledon three years in a row -- Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Federer and Djokovic.

But if there is one man who can stop him it is Sinner, the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, who has been impressive since his return in May from a three-month doping ban.

The match is too close to call, though seven-time champion Djokovic narrowly favours Alcaraz.

"I think I will give a slight edge to Carlos as a favourite because of the two titles he's won here and the way he's playing and the confidence he has right now," he said.

"But it's just a slight advantage because Jannik is hitting the ball extremely well. I think it's going to be, again, a very close match-up like they had in Paris."

(K.Lee--TAG)