Four weeks after their four-set Wimbledon showdown, #NextGenATP stars Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will meet again in Sunday's final at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag. Sinner set up the showdown with a 6-1, 6-3 win against qualifier Franco Agamenone on Saturday evening, after Alcaraz won a three-setter against Giulio Zeppieri.
The championship match will be the third ATP Head2Head meeting between Umag's top seeds, with the Spaniard winning their first encounter last November at the Rolex Paris Masters. The pair also met on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2019, when Alcaraz claimed a three-set win on the clay of Alicante.
"The final is very tough. Everyone was expecting that [matchup]." Sinner said in his on-court interview. "Today I played quite well. Also Carlos is playing well. I'll try to play some good tennis. I have to raise my level if I want to win, so I will try to prepare in the best possible way."
Sinner's 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 win against Alcaraz at Wimbledon was a thrilling encounter between two of the hottest prospects on the ATP Tour. The two youngsters’ transitions from talented juniors to Top 10 stars have been remarkably similar, with both triumphing at the season-ending Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals (Sinner in 2019, Alcaraz in 2021) and both having clinched five ATP Tour titles at a tender age.
Sinner claimed four of his tour-level crowns in a standout 2021 and Alcaraz has matched that tally this year with wins in Rio de Janeiro, Miami, Barcelona and Madrid. Those successes have lifted No. 5 Alcaraz above No. 10 Sinner in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, but despite being yet to pick up a trophy in 2022 Sinner’s form has remained consistent — the Italian holds a 34-9 match record this season and had reached six tour-level quarter-finals prior to this week in Umag.
“I played against him a couple of times," said Alcaraz of Sinner on Saturday. "Tough matches against him. I know that I have to play my best to beat him and I will try to go for the final and show my best tomorrow.”
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In Saturday's semi-final against Agamenone, Sinner raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, saving an early break point as he used his baseline superiority to build the advantage against his countryman. He used a four-game run from 1-2 in the second set to move to the brink of victory before Agamenone claimed his first break of the match to extend the contest. Undeterred, Sinner closed out the victory with his fifth break.
"I tried to play well in the important moments and the beginning of the sets," Sinner said. "I'm very happy to be in the final. Umag is a special place for me. It's [where I had] one of my first ATP [match] wins. So I really enjoy to play here."
Sinner is through to his eighth ATP Tour final and enters with a stellar 6-1 record in his previous title matches. Alcaraz was a perfect 5-0 in finals before his defeat to Lorenzo Musetti last week in Hamburg. The defending Umag champion is 8-0 at the Croatian ATP 250 event.
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