By FirstSportz,Victor Okechukwu

Copyright yardbarker

Former Italian tennis player Paolo Bertolucci has argued that Jannik Sinner must seek for new means to beat Carlos Alcaraz after his US Open final against the Spaniard. Sinner has only lost five times this year, and four of those have been against Alcaraz on clay and hard courts. Also, the Italian has dropped to No.2 in the world rankings.

Before Sinner’s meeting against Alcaraz at the US Open, he had beaten the World No.1 just once in two years. His single victory against the 22-year-old came at the Wimbledon Championships final, where he came from a set down to ensure that Alcaraz didn’t win his third consecutive grass-court major.

At the US Open final, there were expectations that the Italian would show the level of performance he showed at Wimbledon. But that was not the case, as he struggled to keep up with Alcaraz’s trademark combination of power and precision. The 24-year-old managed to win the second set, but wasn’t at his best at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

He let Alcaraz dictate the extended rallies, which led to him converting five of the 11 break-point opportunities he earned. Alcaraz also outhit the Italian star by 42 winners compared to his 21 and dropped just nine points behind his first serve. The Spaniard claimed the win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 42 minutes.

Paolo Bertolucci, who commented on the match on Sky Tennis Italia, was not pleased with Sinner’s performance. The former player revealed to Corriere Dello Sport that he’s happy that Sinner wants to leave his comfort zone after his loss to Alcaraz. He added that the Italian No.1 must find new ways to beat Alcaraz:

Alcaraz served effectively and received incredibly well, while Sinner, on the contrary, could do nothing. Likewise. For Jannik, this kind of pressure from an opponent is new, and he is right when he talks about leaving his comfort zone. He needs to look for other solutions, and I am sure he will find them, because we are talking about two absolute champions.

Sinner spent 65 weeks at the top of the ATP rankings before Alcaraz toppled him. He first climbed to the position in June 2024 after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open. Alcaraz will now start his second reign as World No.1 having gotten to the position in September 2023, and losing it after a year.

Carlos Alcaraz says the US Open was the best tournament of his career

Carlos Alcaraz dropped only one set at the US Open and that came in the final against Jannik Sinner. Also, he conceded just three service games at the Grand Slam event and became the second Grand Slam champion to do so after Pete Sampras at Wimbledon in 1994.