Alcaraz might be the No. 3 seed, but Jannik Sinner holds the cards in terms of head-to-head at 2-1

Alcaraz might be the No. 3 seed, but Jannik Sinner holds the cards in terms of head-to-head at 2-1. The 21-year-old had the answers over four sets to bypass the Spanish teenager at Wimbledon and then backed it up in the Umag final, also in July.

Those victories were on grass and clay; on the other hand it proves Sinner is not daunted by facing this once in a generation prodigy. They’re close friends away from competition, but Sinner is fully engaged in his own trajectory.

“I have had a tough year until now, I had some unfortunate moments, but we worked every time to play better, to be a better player, to be a better person,” the Italian said following his Umag triumph. “I know that I still have a lot of things to improve. … It’s all about the process.” That process could be peaking in New York.

Scanning through the stats, there’s one that leaps out for this contest: Both players will create openings with their supreme athleticism and explosive shot-making. How will they respond? Alcaraz has saved 70% of break points faced at the 2022 US Open thus far, the best amongst the remaining six men.

Meanwhlile, Sinner is bottom of the class with 60%. These mega-matches can be decided by the finest of margins and that extra 10% could give world No. 1-chasing Alcaraz the edge, frustrating Sinner’s attacks. We simply cannot wait for their riveting corner-to-corner rallies to ping around social media.

Sinner, the ‘Fox,’ is a cunning and extremely effective player. So much so that the No. 11 seed is the first man born in the 2000s to reach the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slams. To us, that’s incredibly impressive; for the Italian, it’s just a stepping stone.

The 21-year-old is ambitious, hungry for more and defeating a player in the ilk of Alcaraz could act as the springboard he desires. “I know already what I have in my game, so I try to stay confident with that, but also humble because at the end of the day I didn’t win basically nothing or for sure no important matches,” the 21-year-old saod.

“It’s all part of the process. I don’t want to rush myself, but I think I can be proud of what I am doing, so hopefully I keep this up.”