Carlos Alcaraz won the Open in Cincinnati for the first time in his career, the world number one, and his great rival Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from the highly anticipated final as they trailed 0-5 in the opening ceremony.
Sinner, who has been watching in the weather since the start of the game, later explained that he has been struggling with illness since Sunday. “I am very sorry to let you down,” the Italian said.
“Since yesterday, I didn't feel very good. I thought I would improve at night. It's even worse. I tried to come out at least one small game, but I couldn't handle it. I'm very, very sorry, I'm very sorry to all of you, I know some of you might be working on Monday or doing something else, so I'm very, very, very, very sorry.”
In high temperatures of 31 degrees Celsius (87F) and 57% humidity, very difficult conditions, but they had to drive temperatures since the early rounds, the sinner had completely deviated from the start, and his condition seemed to just worsen in his five games on the court.
Sinner started the game with a sloppy opening game, with three of his first four missing as Alcaraz eased early breaks. From the start of the scene, the sinner seemed determined to keep the points as short as possible as he lashed out on his forehand and made increasingly crazy non-compulsory mistakes. Between the angles, the sinner walked carefully, blushing. As the scene progressed, his movements and legs became worse and worse.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates his victory. Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Alcaraz doesn't always handle himself well when facing a sick opponent, including briefly struggling with sick Alexander Zverev on Saturday night. To his credit, Alcaraz offers the sinner a point of freedom to keep himself strong and make himself seem hard to defeat. Sinner dropped 0-4 and asked the trainers to go out on the court, but after lagging the double fault 0-5, he decided it was time to finish the game.
After the pair hugged online, Alcaraz walked to Sinner's bench and wrapped his arms around the competitor's shoulders. The sinner then explained to Alcaraz that he was not feeling well for a while, but that he “tryed to come out for fans.” Alkaraz replied: “Don't worry.”
Alcaraz lost an incredible game against Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati final two years ago, a match that was widely regarded as one of the three greatest ever. Even though he returned to the title, it wasn't what he thought. Alcaraz held the trophy in his hand and seemed to lose his words as he spoke to the crowd. As you said, Jannik, this is not the way I want to win the game, win the trophy. I can only say sorry. I know and understand how you feel right now. I can't say anything you don't know, but when I say it a lot, I'm a champion. You are indeed a champion. I'm pretty sure you'll always come back from this situation.
Alcaraz, 22, has now won 1,000 titles in eight ATP Masters – only Rafael Nadal won 1,000 titles in eight Masters when he was young. Sina's retirement ended his 26-game victory on the hard court.
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Swiatek wins women's singles championship
Iga Swiatek beat Jasmine Paolini's title. Photo: Zuma Press, Inc. /Alamy
Iga Swiatek, the third-ranked Iga Swiatek, beat World No. 7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Monday night to win the women's singles title in Cincinnati.
Swiatek won all six meetings against the Italians, losing only one set in those games.
Paolini led 3-0 in the first set, but Swiatek roared and led 5-3. Paolini broke the game, even though he got 5-5, Swiatek ended the first set win in 56 minutes.
Swiatek's eighth game led 5-3 in the second set. Paolini defeated twice in the second set, within 5-4, but Swiatek was able to provide the match for her 24th professional singles title.
She failed to surpass the semifinals in six games at the Cincinnati Open. Swiatek has reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati every time in the past two years, but ended up losing to Coco Gauff and 2024 Aryna Sabalenka in 2023.
Paolini is the first Italian woman to be in Cincinnati finals. Since she was a qualifier for the Cincinnati Open in 2023, Paolini has entered two Grand Slam singles finals, winning the Grand Slam doubles championship and Olympic gold medal.