Jannik Sinner has won his first ATP Tour title in 2022 with an emphatic 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 win over Carlos Alcaraz at the Croatia Open in Umag on Sunday.
Alcaraz has now lost two finals in a row. He lost to another Italian – Lorenzo Musetti – in Hamburg last Sunday.
Nevertheless, the 19-year-old Spaniard’s run at Umag will see him leapfrog Stefanos Tsitsipas into No. 4 in the ATP rankings.
Sinner lost the first set after a tight tie-break which saw Alcaraz edge ahead, but the Italian then dictated the match from the baseline to win the contest in two hours and 26 minutes.
The turning point of the final was in the second game of the second set. Sinner saved six break points to hold serve before breaking Alcaraz in the very next game.
Sinner had to save nine break points in total against Alcaraz, who he also knocked out at Wimbledon in the Round of 16 in four sets on July 3.
“I am obviously very happy,” Sinner said after winning the sixth ATP title of his career.
“I have [had] a tough year until now, I had some unfortunate moments, but we worked every time to play better, to be a better player, to be a better person.
“I’m very happy to be finally lifting a trophy this year, but I know that I still have a lot of things to improve… It’s all about the process.”
When asked about saving six break points in one game, the 20-year-old replied: “That was a crucial point [of the match].
“I knew I had to stay there. He made some unforced errors, and I was very happy that I won this game. Then I returned well and raised my level a little bit, and I think I found a solution then.”
