And then it was 6-4.

In a match that typified the thrilling closeness of their rivalry at the top of men’s tennis, Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) to win the China Open in Beijing. The world No. 1 came from 2-5 down in the first set, and 4-6 down in the tiebreak he forced to win the first set. He then led 3-0 in the deciding tiebreak. But Alcaraz won seven points in a row from there, including two that rose to the heights of nonsense, to earn a win that overall, he deserved.

It means that Alcaraz has won six of the duo’s 10 meetings, including all three this year — here, and in the semifinals of both Indian Wells and the French Open.

“He could win in two, I could win two, he could win in three, I could win in three,” Alcaraz told Tennis TV on court after the match.

Since losing in the third round of the U.S. Open to Botic van de Zandschulp, Alcaraz has been playing his best tennis of 2024 and was miffed at losing the first set. He had more of an edge. He did what he has done all tournament in Beijing, and at the Davis Cup too: flying to the net to swat away volleys, casting forehands into the corners of the court and blasting passing shots. He brought up 0-15 in all six of Sinner’s service games and earned five break points, including three in the second game of the set, but converted just one.

Where Alcaraz could call on his best tennis more freely, Sinner found his when he needed it most. He saved all three of those break points. Then, down 5-6 in the first-set tiebreak, he crunched an Alcaraz first serve into the open court, after which the Spaniard could only scramble. Two cheap points later, a set that Alcaraz should have won was out of his grasp.

“Mentally, he’s a beast,” Alcaraz said of Sinner on court.

The pattern continued in the second set, with Alcaraz creating opportunities only to squander them or have Sinner snatch them away.

That meant that when the Spaniard did break in the ninth game of the second set, having saved two break points in the eighth, a moment that would normally feel like a momentum swing instead felt more like a fulfilment of what had gone before. In winning the set 6-4, Alcaraz hit 18 winners to 14 ‘unforced’ errors, with Sinner at an even 10-10.

Alcaraz moved ahead with a break in the third game of the third set, and then had Sinner on the ropes at 15-40, with the chance of a 4-1 lead. Sinner, again, found a way out. And after trading holds, Alcaraz did the thing what he wants to eliminate most from his game — and has largely managed to do in the time since his U.S. Open defeat. He played his worst tennis, at the worst possible time. Three errors at 4-3 up handed Sinner a break back.

It was a momentary lapse in a match that otherwise rose to a crescendo. In what is becoming an increasingly familiar sight, Sinner and Alcaraz forced each other to greater heights. They don’t just run down balls that other players can’t reach. They run down balls that they couldn’t reach either, until the other one has forced them to do it.

At 0-3 in the tiebreak, and staring Sinner’s 18-1 record in 19 tiebreaks in the face, it looked as if the Italian’s better grasp of the important points would be the difference. Alcaraz, instead, saved his clutch moments for the most important of them all.

“I thought OK, I have to give everything. Give myself the opportunity to be close,” Alcaraz said on court.

“If I lose, at least I went for it.”

First he drew Sinner forward and put away a simple volley for 3-1. Then, after Sinner had turned a zapping second-serve return on its head with a lob, Alcaraz did it again, only to find himself stretching to reach a disguised push down the line. Still, he flicked it away for 3-2.

Two more routine points later, he dismissed an inside-out forehand for 5-3, and Sinner finally made an error on a big point to put Alcaraz ahead 6-3. This time, after three hours and 20 minutes, he did not let the lead slip.

Where this match figures in the overall texture of their rivalry is hard to discern. While Sinner was a set down to world No. 69 Roman Safiullin on Saturday, the world anti-doping agency (WADA) announced that it would appeal the ruling in the doping case against the world No. 1. An independent tribunal convened by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) found that he bore no fault or negligence for two positive tests for a banned anabolic steroid but WADA is seeking a ban of between one and two years, and for some blame to be attributed to Sinner.

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Sinner, who won the Cincinnati Open just two days before the ITIA publicized the first ruling, reiterated that he feels secure in believing that he “has done nothing wrong” during press conferences in Beijing, having admitted at the U.S. Open that people close to him could sense a change in his on-court demeanor. He didn’t seem much affected Wednesday, even if Alcaraz played the better tennis, more often, and now leads their ATP Tour head-to-head by two wins.

Where it figures in the wider context of men’s tennis is in part where it has figured ever since their barnstorming U.S. Open quarterfinal of 2022. Sinner and Alcaraz are each other’s biggest problem. What has changed in those intervening years is that they are now indisputably everybody else’s biggest problem too, including Novak Djokovic. They split the four majors in 2024, and Alcaraz has returned to No. 2 in the world behind Sinner with his run in Beijing, after Alexander Zverev withdrew from the tournament.

Jannik Sinner’s position as world No. 1 is firmly entrenched for the rest of 2024. (Fred Lee / Getty Images)

Sinner went into the final with a 59-5 record for 2024, and a 39-2 record on hard courts; Alcaraz was at 47-9 for the year. But in their mini battle for 2024, he is up 3-0.

They are the benchmark for men’s tennis, and though for how long remains subject to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the figure to look at most closely is 6-4, Alcaraz.

Ten matches in, it’s only going to get better from here.

‘It wasn’t the loser you felt for. It was the rest of the field’

Analysis from tennis writer Charlie Eccleshare

Watching this match, it wasn’t the loser you felt for — it was the rest of the men’s field, who must have been wondering how on earth they could get close to these two. Perhaps only an intervention from WADA could do the job.

Sinner and Alcaraz have equally split the year’s four Grand Slams, and this thrilling final underscored how far ahead they are of everyone else. Both players will take a huge amount of confidence from this (not that they need it). Sinner did not win but can feel proud to be part of such a rivalry.

Losing three times in a row to his great rival will sting, especially as he was only two points from victory here, but there is so little between the two, and Sinner remains on course to be the year-end world No. 1.

The way the pair mutually elevate their level, like the ‘Big Three’ used to do, is great news for them and for the sport — and terrible news for every other player who has to face them.

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(Top photo: Fred Lee / Getty Images)