"Gold standard" - Chris Evert, Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert, Boris Becker in awe of Carlos Alcaraz & Jannik Sinner after China Open final
Chris Evert, Boris Becker and Brad Gilbert all heaped praise on the China Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The two played out a thrilling encounter on Diamond Court that lasted three hours and 24 minutes.
Sinner won the first set via a tiebreak but Alcaraz bounced back to win the second set 6-4 and force the match into a decider. Both players produced some fine tennis in the final set, which had to be decided by a tiebreak. Alcaraz eventually won it 7-3 to register a 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) win and clinch his fourth title of the 2024 season, adding to his wins at the BNP Paribas Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
The likes of Chris Evert, Brad Gilbert and Boris Becker hailed Alcaraz and Sinner for the way they played in the China Open final.
"What.... A..... Match.....@janniksin @carlosalcaraz @TennisChannel," Evert said.
Boris Becker called the China Open final "fantastic" and said that Alcaraz and Sinner both left everything on the court.
"Fantastic match between @sinner @alcaraz in Bejing ! Both players leave everything on the court ! @ChinaOpen @atptour," the former World No. 1 wrote.
Brad Gilbert, who previously coached Andre Agassi and Coco Gauff, said that he didn't think to have a rivalry like that of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner so soon after the matches played among Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He said that the rivalry between the World No. 1 and the World No. 3 was the "gold standard" in tennis.
"After 20 years of amazing matches from the big 3 didn’t think it was possible this soon to have another amazing rivalry, Escape from Alcaraz vs Sin City is the gold standard in tennis. Here’s to the next 10 years of these 2 with tons of great matches, hopefully Wada doesn’t mess it up," the 63-year-old said.
"I think it's a really good thing for tennis" - Carlos Alcaraz on facing Jannik Sinner
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Carlos Alcaraz said that him facing Jannik Sinner was good for tennis because of the intensity they show in their matches.
"Well, I'm start saying that when Jannik and I face each other, playing against each other, I think it's a really good thing for tennis because we always show a really intense match, really close match, great points, great rallies," the 21-year-old said.
Alcaraz also said that watching matches between him and Sinner would make people who do not watch tennis start following the sport.
"I think for the people who don't watch tennis, probably thanks to these kind of matches start to watch tennis or even practice it. I think it is pretty good," the Spaniard said.
Alcaraz's win over Sinner sees him take a 6-4 lead in their rivalry. The Spaniard has won each of their fixtures so far in 2024, having previously beaten him in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open and the French Open.
The two are next scheduled to compete at the Shanghai Masters, with Jannik Sinner facing Taro Daniel while Carlos Alcaraz will face Shang Juncheng.