Weary Sinner Tops Djokovic Again, Aims for Reset

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Thursday, October 17, 2024
Photo credit: Richard Pelham/GettyJannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split the Grand Slam spoils this season.Fittingly, the pair will square off this weekend in a lucrative and historic Six Kings Slam exhibition final.More: Rafael Nadal Announces Retirement from TennisWorld No. 1 Sinner pulled off a rarity in Riyadh today.Sinner stopped Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-7(0), 6-4 to reach the inaugural Six Kings Slam final in a victory that came four days after the top-seeded Italian defeated the Grand Slam king 7-6(4), 6-3 in the Rolex Shanghai Masters final.Meanwhile Alcaraz defeated Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3 in the second match of the evening. Fending off both fatigue and Djokovic, Sinner kept calm to extend his winning streak today."I think we played a final in Shanghai not so many days ago," Sinner said. "I feel we were both slightly tired making a couple of mistakes, but we both tried to stay there."This game can change so so quickly. I had a couple of overheads, but he made some pretty good shots and [I was] just trying to reset as fast as possible."Sinner, who has already made history becoming the first Italian to secure the ATP season-ending world No. 1 ranking, will play for a tennis record $6 million pay day on Saturday. That's nearly $2.5 million more than the $3.6 million champion's check Sinner collected winning the US Open championship last month. Sinner will face Alcaraz on Saturday, while Nadal and Djokovic will play a highly anticipated consolation match between the two semifinal losers. "Let’s see what’s coming Saturday, hopefully it’s going to be a great match," Sinner said. "That’s why we’re all here so hopefully it’s going to be a good one."]]>