Sinner retires in Cincinnati, Alcaraz wins

The victory Alcaraz wouldn't have wanted, the defeat Sinner never imagined: the Cincinnati final, in effect, didn't happen, due to the withdrawal of the world number one, down 5-0 to the Spaniard. Lying cadaverously, almost frozen on the court, making one unforced error after another, Jannik called his physiotherapist: "I feel too bad," he said, announcing his withdrawal. His discomfort had gradually become more and more evident, after the shock of being broken to love in the first game and even more so in the third, while Carlos was rapidly gaining ground. The team's silence, the lack of encouragement, was a sign of their awareness of the situation. After 23 minutes of (non)play, the inevitable decision, the embrace between the two, Alcaraz whispering words of encouragement to Sinner, slumped in his chair, who said he only tried for the fans. He reiterated this during the awards ceremony: "I usually start by talking about my opponent, but today it's right to start with the crowd. I'm sorry to have disappointed you, but I haven't felt well since yesterday. I was hoping to improve tonight, but I got worse," he explained, also referring to the scorching temperatures of recent days: "It was one of the hottest tournaments I've ever played." Alcaraz expressed his disappointment, saying, "This isn't how I wanted to win. I understand how you feel. I can't say anything you don't know. You're a great champion. You'll come back even stronger, as you always have been; that's what great champions like you do."

The Spaniard thus takes home a Masters 1000 title that had narrowly eluded him in 2023, when he even had a match point against Djokovic and then lost. Sinner, the defending champion here, loses last year's points, and the gap between him and his rival narrows further: 11,480 points to 9,580. What matters most, at this point, is understanding how much time he has to recover for the upcoming US Open, where the Italian is the defending champion. He should theoretically take the court tomorrow to play mixed doubles with Katerina Siniakova, but after the 23 minutes he saw on center court in Cincinnati (where, to be fair, signs of discomfort had already been seen with Atmane: Jannik was gasping for breath at the start of the second set), this is unlikely. We'll see.

Meanwhile, at midnight, we await the final of Jasmine Paolini with Iga Swiatek.