Carlos Alcaraz won his first Cincinnati Open title on Monday after fierce rival Jannik Sinner was forced to retire after just 23 minutes into their championship-match clash. This was Alcaraz’s sixth title of the season.
Defending champion Sinner, who was looking out of sorts in the sweltering heat, called for the doctor after surrendering a 0-5 lead in the opening set, but he was unable to continue.
With his 22nd tour-level trophy, Alcaraz also strengthened push for Year-End No. 1 – an honour he has not held since becoming the youngest in history to do so at 19 years in 2022. He leads Sinner by 1,890 points in the ATP Live Race To Turin.
“I’m super, super sorry to disappoint you. From yesterday I didn’t feel great. I thought that I would improve during the night, but it came up worse. I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more, so I’m very sorry,” Sinner said to the fans.
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With defeat, Sinner’s 26-match winning streak on hard courts comes to an end, and he now faces a quick recovery ahead of his US Open title defence. The World No. 1 Sinner’s participation in the mixed doubles event, in which he is set to compete with Katerina Siniakova on Tuesday, is now in doubt.
“This is not the way that I want to win trophies, I just have to say sorry, I can understand how you must feel now,” Alcaraz said to Sinner.
“As I said many times, you are a true champion and I am sure from these situations, you are going to come back even stronger, as you always do. That’s what true champions do. I’m sorry and come back stronger,” he added.