After this elimination, the 19-year-old Spaniard will lose from Monday his place of world N.1, to the benefit of Serbian Novak Djokovic.

In the meantime, he who seemed to evolve on another planet for three weeks and his title gleaned at Indian Wells, by dismissing Sinner in the semis and Medvedev in the final, each time unceremoniously, ended up being brought back to earth.

To do this, the 21-year-old Italian, also vengeful since their Homeric duel, in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows last year, which had turned in favor of Alcaraz after 5h15 of struggle, had to climb into the stratosphere.

Because the two players, whose growing rivalry promises great hours, have evolved at such a level that the first set was probably the best we have seen on a tennis court this year.

Sinner notably won an exceptional rally, 24 shots long exchanged during which the attacker became the attacker almost in turn, thanks to a half-volley cross pass of remarkable finesse. With a break at 4-2, he raised his fist.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz dives to hit the ball during his semifinal against Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Masters 1000 in Miami, on March 31, 2023 in Florida © AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Alcaraz clearly diminished

But Alcaraz was able to immediately erase this point from his memory and he managed to regain his opponent's serve, before getting a set ball at 6-5. On which, it was up to Sinner to answer, breaking in turn to push for the decisive game... finally won by the Spaniard on an ace.

Sinner found the mental resources to put his rival under pressure, grabbing his serve early in the second set. And he had to do it a second time to equalize, after the Spaniard managed to break.

Alcaraz, who had meanwhile hurt a finger on his left hand on a slide, then took a locker room break of about five minutes and, on his way back, his stretches seemed to betray a muscle problem in one leg.

Sinner took advantage of his rival's obvious lack of mobility to break him in. And then he was able to stay solid at 3-2 to erase a break ball, when the Spaniard finally regained some of his vitality. But the combativeness that characterizes the latter was not enough to work miracles and he finally gave in after three hours of a very intense struggle.

Finalist of the event in 2021, Sinner will have the opportunity to do better on Sunday against Daniil Medvedev. But the Russian, seeking a fourth title in his fifth straight final in two months, has a psychological advantage, having won their first five encounters.

© 2023 AFP