By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz resumes his fast-growing Grand Slam rivalry with Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final but the second seed said on Friday that his epic win over the Italian in the French Open title clash last month did not give him the mental edge.
Defending champion Alcaraz quelled the challenge of American fifth seed Taylor Fritz 6-4 5-7 6-3 7-6(6) to secure his spot in a third consecutive title clash at the All England Club, before Sinner humbled seven-times winner Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-3 6-4.
Alcaraz saved three match points to beat Sinner in a shade under 5-1/2 hours at Roland Garros in one of the most memorable finals of all time, but the Spaniard expected his opponent to be a lot wiser after that heart-breaking defeat.
“Whatever Jannik has, (it is) because he has learned from everything as a huge champion, from the losses, from the matches he’s playing, he just gets better after every match, every day,” Alcaraz told reporters.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to take a lot of things from the French Open final, he’s going to be better physically, be better mentally. He’s going to be prepared on Sunday to give 100%.
“I’m not thinking I have an advantage mentally on Sunday because of that match.”
Alcaraz, who will be eyeing his third successive title at Wimbledon to match the feat of Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic, said he had not revisited his big battle with Sinner on the red dirt of Paris.
“But I still think about that moment, sometimes. Yeah, it was probably the best… I mean, not ‘probably’ no, it was the best match that I have ever played so far.
“I’m not surprised he just pushed me to the limit. I expect that on Sunday, just to be at the limit, to be on the line. It’s just going to be a great day, a great final. I’m excited.
“I just hope it’s not to be 5-1/2 hours on court again,” he smiled. “If I have to, I will. I think it’s going to be great.”
Sunday’s Centre Court showdown will be the second time that the pair have met on the lawns of Wimbledon, with Sinner prevailing in their last-16 clash in 2022 to go up 2-1 in their head-to-head.
“I remember that match but it was three years ago. We’re completely different players on grass and on all surfaces. I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be different,” Alcaraz said.
“I just see Jannik playing great tennis on grass. I said many times that the movement on grass is the hardest things to get and the most important things, at least for me.
“The movement Jannik has on grass is unbelievable. He’s sliding like he’s playing on clay. It’s going to be interesting. I’m not going to watch the match in 2022 because we’re just completely different players.”
Alcaraz now boasts an 8-4 head-to-head advantage over Sinner and believes they are on course to have a similar rivalry to the sport’s golden generation of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal.
“I think the things that we are doing right now is great for tennis,” Alcaraz said. “We just fight to just engage more people to watch tennis. We’re fighting for tennis to be bigger, as all the tennis players are doing.
“For me, it’s sharing the big tournaments with Jannik, or just playing in the finals of the tournaments… We’re still really young.
“I hope to keep doing the right things for the next five to 10 years so our rivalry is on the same table as those players.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; editing by Clare Fallon)
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