MADRID, 18 (EUROPA PRESS)
Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz has won the title at the Cincinnati tournament (United States), the seventh ATP Masters 1000 of the season, after Italian Jannik Sinner retired due to physical problems during the first set (5-0) of the final this Monday, which gives the Murcian the 22nd trophy of his career on the circuit and paves his way to finish the US Open as world number one.
In this way, Alcaraz lifts his third Masters 1000 title of the year, following those in Monte Carlo and Rome, and his fifth in 2025, a year in which he has also been crowned champion of Roland Garros and Queen's.
The sixth final between the two, who were meeting for the fourth time in just three months, didn't offer the epic quality they're used to, and it made itself felt from the first minute. At the first exchange, the El Palmar native broke his opponent's serve with a love game, and confirmed the break on his first serve.
Alarm bells rang in Ohio when, in the third game, "Carlitos" sealed another break, before taking a surprising 5-0 lead in just 23 minutes. Visibly shaken, the world number one spoke to doctors and later announced he would not continue playing.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I haven't been feeling well since yesterday. I thought it would get better overnight, but I started feeling worse. I tried to go out and play the game, but I couldn't handle it," Sinner said after the match.
Alcaraz expressed his regret for what happened to Sinner. "I'm sorry, I understand how you feel right now. As I've said many times, you're a champion. I'm sure you'll come back better, even stronger, you always do, and that's what a true champion does," he noted.
With this victory, which ends Sinner's streak of 26 wins on hard courts, the world number two reaches 22 ATP Tour titles and eight ATP Masters 1000 titles. Furthermore, the title ignites the fight for the number one spot at the US Open; when the main draw of the final Grand Slam of the season gets underway, Alcaraz will be the number one in the live rankings and will have a good chance of displacing the Italian from the top spot at Flushing Meadows.
The Murcian has three options to finish the year's final major at the top of the rankings: winning the title; reaching the final and Sinner missing out; or reaching the semifinals and the Italian missing out.
