IT WAS built up as a box office clash, and the two best players in the world delivered a match worthy of the pre-game hype. Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz – who will regain second spot in the world after making the final – fought through an incredible display of power and skill from a cramping Jannik Sinner to defeat the world number on in a three-hour and 21-minute marathon.

A fitting end to the China Open for the men’s tournament, the players who will now head to Shanghai for the ATP 1000 Masters, fought out an all-time classic that went to three sets, eventually going the way of Alcaraz, 6-7 6-4 7-6 in a come-from-behind victory.

Neither player wanted to give an inch, and in the end, it was just Alcaraz’s ability to stand up in the third set tiebreak to decisively take the match and remain unbeaten against the Italian in 2024. Just the third match in which they have faced off in, Alcaraz reversed the semi-final loss to Sinner 12 months ago, adding the win to his five-set victory at Roland Garros and his come-from-behind win at Indian Wells.

Each of the three matches he has won in 2024, he has gone down either one set to love in a best-of-three match, or two sets to one in a best-of-five battle. In the latest victory – which moved his head-to-head record to 6-4 since they first clashed in on the ATP Tour in 2021, Alcaraz won 73 per cent of his first serve points to Sinner’s 66 per cent, while converted three breaks to two, and generating nine more chances (15-6).

“He could [have won] in two, I could win in two, he could win in three. It was a really close match,” Alcaraz said post-match. “Jannik, once again, he showed that he’s the best player in the world, at least for me. The level that he’s playing, it’s unbelievable. It’s a really high quality of tennis. Of shots, physically, mentally, he’s a beast.”

Incredibly it looked like Sinner was going to take out the match after going a break up in the deciding tiebreak at 3-0, before Alcaraz went to another level, winning seven straight points to close out the set, and championship.

With Alcaraz’s title, he became the first player since the ATP 500 series began to win a title on all three surfaces (hardcourt, clay and grass) in the one year.

“During the whole week I’ve been playing great tennis,” Alcaraz said. “Probably sometimes the luck went to my side a little bit in the matches. But in general I feel great on court, I feel great off the court as well with my team.

“It’s really important to feel like you are in a good mood all the time off the court, just try to show good tennis and be calm on the court. I think I couldn’t ask for a better week here in Beijing and I will try to keep going.”

Alcaraz said he knew he blew some chances at times, but kept the faith and was rewarded in the end with a strong finish in the tiebreaker.

“I had my chances in the first set, didn’t make it,” he said. “Three set points, didn’t make it. But in general, I’m proud about myself with the way that I [played] the match, the way that I managed everything. Being a set down with a lot of opportunities in the second set… 4-3, break point down and to be able to come back after that… it has been a pretty good time, pretty good match.

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

Alcaraz enters Shanghai as the third seed and will take on the wonderfully talented Juncheng Shang in the second round, while top seed Sinner faces Japanese hope Taro Daniel in the Round of 64.

CHINA OPEN – WTA 1000

The remaining Round of 16 matches were completed, and after a series of upsets the day before, the results went more to plan on Wednesday. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka proved too strong for American Madison Keys to win 6-4 6-3, while in the other earlier games, Karolina Muchova destroyed Cristina Bucsa 6-2 6-0 and Russian Mirra Andreeva easily took care of Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1 6-3.