China Open: Sinner to lock horn with Alcaraz for Beijing crown

All eyes in Beijing as the two hottest tennis stars of their generation will meet for the title at the China Open on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Italian and World no.1 will face red hot Spanish Carlos Alcaraz in the final after reaching a consecutive final in Beijing on Tuesday evening.

“It’s going to be a tough match. We know each other very well now, but every match is different, so the situation on the court is also a bit different than it was the last two matches. But let’s see,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I’m happy to be again here in the final. My season is going very, very good and playing finals is always a great moment. I just hope tomorrow is going to be a good match from both of us.”

“Of course tomorrow is going to be completely different,” Sinner said. “We know each other very well. It’s going to be tactical, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Jannik Sinner set the blockbuster showdown against Carlos Alcaraz after a 6-3, 7-6(3) hard fought victory against home favourite Buyunchaokete in the semi-finals.

“Today was a very tough match because I didn’t know him at all, so in the beginning I didn’t know exactly what to expect. But then I tried somehow to get into the rhythm,” Sinner said. “I felt like the first set I was playing some good tennis and then in the second set I dropped a little bit of intensity, which then he raised his level. I had some chances in the second set also like yesterday to break a bit earlier. I couldn’t use them, so I tried to stay there mentally somehow, which a set can go very, very fast away, so I’m happy to be… back in the final here.”

Wednesday’s final will see Sinner bring to the court a 15-match winning streak while Alcaraz who is in form himself, having claimed eight consecutive matches and won Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year will be eager to get another past his rival as the Spaniard have a 5-4 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against the Italian.