Match Stats/Report - Alcaraz vs Sinner, Beijing final, 2024

[Waspsting]

Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) in the Beijing final, 2024 on hard court

It was Alcaraz’ first title at the event and his third win over Sinner in the year, with no losses. Sinner, the defending champion, had recently won US Open and would shortly after win Shanghai

Alcaraz won 132 points, Sinner 120

Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (74/123) 60%
- 1st serve points won (54/74) 73%
- 2nd serve points won (27/49) 55%
- Aces 6
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/123) 21%

Sinner...
- 1st serve percentage (71/129) 55%
- 1st serve points won (47/71) 66%
- 2nd serve points won (31/58) 53%
- Aces 6, Service Winners 1
- Double Faults 4
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (26/129) 20%

Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 38%
- to BH 55%
- to Body 7%

Sinner served...
- to FH 34%
- to BH 61%
- to Body 5%

Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 99 (30 FH, 69 BH), including 1 runaround FH & 7 return-approaches
- 3 Winners (1 FH, 2 BH)
- 19 Errors, comprising...
- 9 Unforced (6 FH, 3 BH), including 1 return-approach attempt
- 10 Forced (6 FH, 4 BH)
- Return Rate (99/125) 79%

Sinner made...
- 95 (33 FH, 62 BH)
- 2 Winners (1 FH, 1 BH)
- 20 Errors, comprising...
- 11 Unforced (6 FH, 5 BH)
- 9 Forced (6 FH, 3 BH)
- Return Rate (95/121) 79%

Break Points
Alcaraz 3/15 (8 games)
Sinner 2/6 (4 games)

Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 49 (25 FH, 6 BH, 9 FHV, 7 BHV, 2 OH)
Sinner 24 (15 FH, 5 BH, 1 FHV, 2 BHV, 1 OH)

Alcaraz' FHs - 6 cc (2 passes, 1 at net), 1 dtl, 3 dtl/inside-out (1 pass), 6 inside-out, 1 inside-out/down-the-middle, 2 inside-in (1 return), 1 inside-in/cc, 4 drop shots, 1 lob
- BHs - 1 cc, 5 dtl (2 returns, 2 passes)

- 1 from a serve-volley point, a FHV
- 2 from return-approach points (1 FHV, 1 BHV).... the FHV was a re-approach point
- 1 other FHV was a swinging cc, non-net shot

Sinner's FHs - 6 cc (1 return, 1 at net), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 dtl, 4 inside-out (2 at net - 1 pass), 1 inside-out/longline, 1 longline, 1 drop shot
- BHs - 1 cc at net, 2 dtl (1 return, 1 pass), 1 inside-out/dtl at net, 1 lob

Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 68
- 51 Unforced (21 FH, 26 BH, 4 FHV)... with 1 swinging baseline FHV
- 17 Forced (9 FH, 4 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V, 1 Back-to-Net)... with 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net & the Back-to-Net was at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.1

Sinner 53
- 34 Unforced (17 FH, 15 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 19 Forced (5 FH, 12 BH, 1 BHV, 1 BH1/2V)... with 1 BH at net & 1 BH running-down-drop-shot at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 46.5

(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)

(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)

Net Points & Serve-Volley
Alcaraz was...
- 32/45 (71%) at with, including...
- 4/5 (80%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
---
- 6/7 (86%) return-approaching
- 0/1 forced back

Sinner was 16/32 (50%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back

Match Report
Intense and high quality affair with both players playing well. Alcaraz has more better of action than he does scoreline and is better at most things. Particularly pertinent is his successful use of net to augment offensive advantage off the FH and in shotmaking. Sinner has the better, more solid BH but trails slightly in almost all other areas. Court is normal

6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) looks like it might be a coin flip match. It isn’t and Alcaraz has significantly better of things
Alcaraz wins 52.4% of the points, serving 48.8% of them. Despite Alcs serving outlier 22 point game
Break points - Alcs 3/15 (8 games), Sinner 2/6 (4 games)

Alcs is up a break for much of first set and fails to serve it out. He has break/set point near the end of it. He’s up for most of the tiebreak too and has 2 set points at 6-4 - 1 of them on his own serve
Alcs is up a break in third set too and threatens to make it 2 breaks before Sinner manages to level. He again has break point in his last regular return game
And of course, wins the middle set with a break

Despite all that, its Sinner that looks good for the win with 3-0 lead (2 min-breaks) in the final tiebreak. He doesn’t win another point with Alcs raining fire for rest of it (after a leisurely break to change his shoes when down 3-0)

Alcs with better of all basic stats - +5% first serve in, +7% first serve won, +2% second serve won
Alcs with higher lot of unreturned serves (negligible amount)
Alcs with half the double faults (small for both players)
Alcs with twice the winners
Alcs forcing a couple more errors
Sinner with substantially UEs (less than his handicap in winners)

Gist of all this is Sinner’s done well or/and been lucky to keep the match as close as it is. Would have been a pinch if he’d won it. It happens. What happens far more often is better player in almost all areas winning

Stats of interest are -
- freebies being virtually equal (Alcs 21%, Sinner 20%), which given the games of the two players is a big win for Alcs
- Alcs having better of FHs, where has 25 winners, 21 UEs. Sinner with good 15 winners, 17 UEs shwoing himself
- Sinner having better of BHs, where he has UE advantage 15-26 (winners are about equal, but that’s secondary matter on that wing)
- Alcs’ success at net, where he wins 71% of 45 approaches (Sinner wins exactly 50% of 32)

Serve & Return
The returning is better than the serving and both players good in both areas, and in similar ways. Solidly strong serving, a step above in punishing returning

Nice to see 2 players taking returns early and looking to boss with the second shot. Both are on the baseline to return second serves, both thump (not block) returns. Neither fall too far back against first serves. Rare in this era, where taking every return from well-back is so common

Both return at 79% (or conversely, unreturned rates are Alcs 21%, Sinner 20%). Just on consistency grounds (the area that falling back to return helps), that’s excellent. Its not a slow court and neither serve gently. Throw in thumping returning, and its better still

Sinner with stronger first serve, but Alc’s is no gimme

Very similar breakdown in types of unreturned serves. Both with 26 freebies. From returner’s point of view -
Aced/service winner’d - Alcs 7, Sinner 6
Return FE - Alcs 10, Sinner 9
Return UE - Alcs 9, Sinner 11

Very similar by wings too. Alcs with 12 FH errors, 7 BHs (Sinner serving to FH 34%), Sinner with 12 FH errors, 8 BHs (Alcs serving to FH 38%)
So disproportionately high lot of FH return errors. That’s related to both players occasionally going for aggressive returns off that side more often. They also scoring winning FH returns more often than BHs, particularly Sinner. Alcs early taken BH inside-in is as damaging as his FHs

Return winners - Alcs 3, Sinner 2

You’d be hard pressed to find a match where two players have such similar return stats in all areas

In light of Sinner with stronger serve, Alcs must have returned better

Sinner with bigger first serve and he comes to boom down a few seconds too, in response to Alcs’ punishing returns. Yet Alcs returns at same rate, and double faults less (he’s got 2, Sinner 4 - not too big a deal, but its not a point against Alcs)

Alcs particularly quick in moving for first return. Sinner’s not far from exemplary himself, Alcs is special
On top of the extra winner, Alcs thumping 7 return-approaches, winning 6 of them (also has an error trying)

Typical return is firm from both players, with considerably amount deep, punishing, even potentially point-ending. Much like their groundstrokes (more on that in a bit). This ain’t no strong-serve-draws-weak-return-&-plus-1-commands action. Takes pointed intent for server to stay on top of things for the third ball or put another way, would be very easy to stay in neutral. Both players have that intent, and both win majority of second serve points (Alcs 55%, Sinner 53%), despite consistent and heavy returning

Alcs with a nasty habit of delivering aces at important times. He doesn’t serve many (just 8% of first serves), but at good times

Gist - close to even on serve-return (and freakishly similar statistically in almost all ways), Alcs maybe with edge
Sinner with bigger serve (both of them), but Alcs landing 5% more first serves and double faulting less. And Alcs very timely in finding his best serves
On return front, Alcs has to be (and is) that much quicker to handle the bigger serve. Thumped return approaches giving him advantage in aggression (both players are punishing with their early taken, thumped deep returning)

Statistical gist - both players with return rate 79%. Given match-up, that’s a win for Alcs

 

[Waspsting]

Play - Baseline & Net
Dual winged baseline action, both players comfily hammering the ball, both handling hammered balls, Alcs more keen to knock away point ending shots (particularly off the FH), Alcs marrying net play to shot-making putting him over

Alcs having better of FHs, due to shot-making
Sinner with better of BHs, due to consistency
Alcs’ net play putting him over as better player

Winners - Alcs 49, Sinner 24
Errors forced - Alcs 19, Sinner 17
UEs - Alcs 51, Sinner 34

For starters, the stock exchanges are both intense but easily played by both players, off both wings. Beat-down strong, where ‘routine’ shots are liable to crash through opponent or elicit weak response. Exemplary movement from both players and it has to be; As well as they hit, any laziness is likely to result in FE, let alone UE to not wide balls. Maybe even clean winner. Neither player give up weak balls though. Any weaker ball is quickly punished

Similar to the returning. And with the returning what it is, not too many easy attacking chances for server on third ball, quite a lot of server having to deal with near half-volley off the baseline to start. Both handing the tough first ball well. Not many third ball errors against balls likely to draw them

Neutral UEs - Alcs 28, Sinner 18, related to BH UEs Alcs 26, Sinner 15
‘Neutral’ here involving both consistency and shot-resistance, with the stock hitting good enough to test the latter, but 2 are evenly matched there (neither gives up weak balls against persistent powers, neitehr weakens in their hitting), so it comes down to consistency contest. And Sinner’s got better of it, mostly on BH. Takes awhile for the errors to come

On the FH -
Alcs with 25 winners, 21 UEs
Sinner 15 winners, 17 UEs
Alcs more fiery with the shot-making, but Sinner more stable. Alcs shading things

Winner attempt UEs - Alcs 8, Sinner 6
Attacking UEs - Alcs 15, Sinner 10

Alcs doing much, much better nailing his winners, given 49-24 gap their. And given kinds of shots he goes for, against the kind of hitting, that is fantastic shot-making display from him. He doesn’t go for them from routine positions, but with Sinner’s hitting and shot tolerance, also can’t set them up against weak balls too often. Apparently, he’s picked and chosen his moments well and executed superbly

FH is chief shot-maker or finisher for both players. Alcs rarely takes on a few BHs too, where he’s less successful. 2/6 of his BH winners come in baseline rallies (1 cc, 1 dtl), adventurous shot-choices (not a bad idea, given error contest is against him there), while all 5 of Sinner’s are returns, passes or net shots

8 winner attempt UEs for 49 winners, going for shots from not easy looks at least and relatively high lot of them being BHs or volleys (he’s got 4 volley UEs, Sinner 2)… first class FH shot-making from Alcs. Sinner’s good, Alcs is first class. Of course, he has to be better than Sinner in light of trailing consistency

Errors forced in baseline rallies - Alcs 3, Sinner 7
Winners in baseline rallies - Alcs 21, Sinner 11

If that’s a ridiculously winner heavy yield for Alcs (the FE he draws on match point is a virtual FH inside-out winner too), its also not unusual for him. Errors are hard to force from both players, with both moving and handling power so well, but that’s not main reason for Alcs’ ratio; its just what he does and its what makes him such a crowd favourite. Probably also why he’s more prone to upset than the clinical Sinner. He doesn’t have much of a middle gear when attacking from the back. Even as successful as he, he’s finished touch and go with Sinner from the baseline

At least, that’s what pure baseline numbers look like, but Alcs’ isn’t a pure baseline showing. In lieu of moderate attacking shots from the back, he comes to net

Rallying to net - Alcs 22/33, Sinner 16/32
Throw in a few serve-volleys and return-approaches, Alcs’ net numbers go up to 32/45 (Sinner has none of either)

And that’s what’s put Alcs over and it’s a beautiful, complete game he’s displayed; Balls he hits hard, slightly wide and approaches behind and balls he goes for winners are similar calibre, not-strong (as opposed to weak and begging to be attacked). If his winners to error forced ratio is suggesting a crazy showing that happens to have come off, its deceptive. He’s picked which balls to attack and how to attack them well, and been successful most of the time. Against hardy opposition. Sinner’s groundies and movements promise hot reception for net rushing, so far form an obvious move by Alcs. In fact, in this period, distinctly unusual

At net, Alcs with 18 winners, 3 UEs, 3 FEs
Sinner on pass has 2 winners (1 at net), 12 FEs

Sinner’s less successful at net. He has 4 volley winners (he has 5 groundies too, including the pass), 2 UEs, 3 FEs
Alcs on pass has 6 winners, 7 FEs, with considerably lot of the FEs being hopeless looks. That’d be Alcs on pass getting better of Sinner at net, with Sinner coming in of similar calibre good approaches

Gist - intense, dual winged hitting that keeps pressure on and leaves little easy opening to attack. Exemplary fundamentals (hitting, movement, shot-resistance) from both for a base
From there, Sinner more consistent, particularly off the BH
Alcs more adventurous with FH shot-making and getting better of that
Would be close to even but for net play. Alcs substantially more successful at net - both for volleying well and better and more than that, passing

 

[Waspsting]

Match Progression
Action doesn’t change much over course of match and is as outlined earlier. Nor does trend, with Alcs having better of things almost throughout

So all that’s put in place at the start. Both returning early (on baseline for second serves, not too far back against firsts), both thumping returns. Rallies are at least firm, and usually, hard hitting. Anything a little weaker is quickly punished. Both go for attacking finishing shot against those (Alcs with some typical drop shots too) or hit hard and come to net (Alcs more)

Alcs holds from 15-30 down to open the match, with Sinner giving up BH errors last 2 points
Than smacks 3 FH winners in a row (FH inside-out set up by series of strong BH cc’s, FH cc and FH dtl/inside-out pass) to reach 0-40. He’s at net for first break point, but can’t handle tough BH1/2V and Sinner goes on to hold
Sinner has a break point of his own as Alcs holds for 2-1, finishing up with BH dtl pass winner and a FH dtl/inside-out one
Alcs breaks for 3-1, with Sinner making 1/6 first serves. And nurses it through to serve for the set at 5-3

Powerful game from Sinner to get back on serve, winning last 3 points with overpowering play ending in FH cc winner, a FH cc return winner and forcing a FH error with a deep, wide ball
Alcs has break/set point at 6-5 too, on back of couple of double faults and an easy FHV miss. Good serves and strong FHs see Sinner through to tiebreak

Going into ‘breaker, Alcs’ served 34 points, Sinner 41. Break points read Alcs 1/5 (3 games), Sinner 1/2 (2 games)

Trade of mini-breaks (Sinner missing third ball FH, Alcs a FHV after not being able to putaway a tricky OH), before a wide, winning pass puts Alcs up 6-4, 2 set points First is aced away and is second is saved with a not unusual firm, wide inside-in FH return against first serve and its 6-6

Alcs misses a third ball FH dtl’ish winner attempt. Almost the first one he has missed, while flaming such shots for winners all set. And gives up BH UE to lose the set

Alcs tones down the aggression a touch in second set and rallies are still good
Comfy holds to 3-3 (last one is a deuce hold with no break points), before 3 make-or-break games in a row

Sinner holds fiery game from both players in 8 points, saving 2 break points. Just 1 UE in the game, and that’s against a powerful ball, with plenty of brilliance from both players. Unusual, FH inside-in slice approach from Alcs in it, which he finishes off with a dtl BHV winner
Mixed quality, 22 point hold by Alcs to follow. He only faces 2 breaks points and intersperses brilliance with missing routine shots. Some brilliance from Sinner too - particulalry a running BH lob winner and coming away with FH cc winner after defending very ably. Takes consecutive aces to finally end the game
Alcs breaks to 30 in a rare bad game, all 6 points ending with UEs (1 return) without hot rallies to hold them up. And serves to love, starting with a bold BH dtl winner - and its on to decider

Decider has almost same progression as opening. Alcs breaking early for 2-1 in a hot game he’s at net 3 games for. Alcs having better of things from there, before Sinner breaks back for 4-4, in a below par game

Alcs is at his net thirstiest for the rest and starts serve-volleying some. Again like first set, he’s got a late break point at 5-5, where he’s a little slow to move for return and and can’t make the shot. Soon after, its into another tiebreak

Alcs serving 33 points in regular games in the set, Sinner 46
Break points Alcs 1/6 (3 games), Sinner 1/2 (1 game)

Would favour Alcs for the ‘breaker
Less so after Sinner opens up 3-0 lead, with 2 mini-breaks (third ball FH putaway, FH drop shot winner and winning return to the baseline)

At this stage, Alcs changes his shoes. Pretty leisurely. Takes out a new pair and transfers the inner soles from the pair’s he’s wearing into the new pair. Would think back-up shoes already had their own, perfect inner soles ready to go
Unless something happened to Alcs’ shoes in the 8 points since the last change-over that necessitated a mid-tiebreak change, move looks very much as just a way to delay the game

Whatever it is, Alcs is thoroughly on fire after the change and doesn’t lose another point
4 winners (net to net BHV, FHV after returning to net from being forced back, BHV from a delayed serve-volley and a flaming FH inside-out against normal ball) and another FH inside-out that may as well be (Sinner just tips it to side, barely getting racquet to ball), to go with a serve-volleying return error and Sinner missing a third ball FH make up the points after the shoe break

Summing up, intense, high quality affair with the superior Alcaraz the fitting winner
Sinner with stronger serve (both of them), Alcaraz not too far behind
Alcaraz returning better (quicker to reach wide ones and a little more damaging). Both thump returns early when possible, Alcaraz also coming in behind them some too

Hard, strong fundamentals (movement, shot-tolerance and hitting) is backbone of court action. Exemplary from both players
Alcaraz taking more risks with FH shot-making and pulling it off. Sinner with more solid BH
Alcaraz combining net play with FH aggression very nicely puts him ahead. Passes particularly well too

 

[Tallawah Tennis]

Yah man, superb summaries here. It would be great to have a thread with your summaries to look at.

 

[objection_]

Yah man, superb summaries here. It would be great to have a thread with your summaries to look at.

Match Stats/Reports - Catalogue

This is a full list of all the matches I've statt-ed chronologically arranged I'll keep it updated. List will continue to grow, probably not at the same rate, and disproportionately heavily towards more recent players Slam pre-final matches are in blue Slam finals are in red Happy holidays...

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

 

[Galvermegs]

Sinner racked up the points but his stellar 2024 season had several obvious blemishes.. and the hh with carlos was one of the more minor aspects but still worth remembering. Also sinner is normally dominant on indoor finals.

I suppose the 6 man exhibiton near the end of the season is worth a mention but it just doesnt count as part of the main tour and was mainly about showing up for stupendous money. Even coming last was a decent pay check.

 

[Winner Sinner]

I only remember that Sinner, compared to his usual standards, played this match really badly.
Many unforced errors, terrible first serve percentages on the court.
Only through his character and resilience was he able to get to the tiebreak of the decisive third set, having among other things two mini-breaks ahead, when that day, based on the values expressed on the court, Alcaraz should have won the match in two sets.

Paradoxically, the moment where Sinner expressed himself best was the second set, the one in which he lost the most clearly in the score.

 

[Tallawah Tennis]

Match Stats/Reports - Catalogue

This is a full list of all the matches I've statt-ed chronologically arranged I'll keep it updated. List will continue to grow, probably not at the same rate, and disproportionately heavily towards more recent players Slam pre-final matches are in blue Slam finals are in red Happy holidays...

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

Thanks, man, much appreciated. The work by @Waspsting is an asset to this board.

 

[7thKingSlam]

I think this is your first Sincaraz match coverage, right?

Yeah my thoughts on this match was that it was very flashy and great in many ways, but also that Alcaraz could’ve and probably should’ve gotten the job done sooner. He took the scenic route, and my god that 0-3 comeback was awesome. Seemed to me like Alcaraz was misfiring in key moments where he could’ve closed it out sooner, like up a break in the 1st, 6-4 in the TB, and up a break in the 3rd. He also nearly gave away that 2nd set with some bad mistakes in that marathon service game

Sinner generally has played a pretty passive approach vs Alcaraz this past year, and it basically leaves the match on Carlos’s racket. Interesting contrast of styles matchup but I think Sinner would be better off playing a more reckless power game like he used to, or even more down the middle ball-bashing in this matchup.

The rivalry as a whole on-paper has been very good, but I still feel like it hasn’t quite found its legs. They both look awfully nervous when they play each other, to the extent that it affects the match quality. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but I think as they get older they’ll start to bring their best level against each other more frequently.

 

[objection_]

I think this is your first Sincaraz match coverage, right?

Yeah my thoughts on this match was that it was very flashy and great in many ways, but also that Alcaraz could’ve and probably should’ve gotten the job done sooner. He took the scenic route, and my god that 0-3 comeback was awesome. Seemed to me like Alcaraz was misfiring in key moments where he could’ve closed it out sooner, like up a break in the 1st (leading to the eventual 1st set loss), and up a break in the 3rd.

Sinner generally has played a pretty passive approach vs Alcaraz this past year, and it basically leaves the match on Carlos’s racket. Interesting contrast of styles matchup but I think Sinner would be better off playing a more reckless power game like he used to, or even more down the middle ball-bashing in this matchup.

The rivalry as a whole on-paper has been very good, but I still feel like it hasn’t quite found its legs. They both look awfully nervous when they play each other, to the extent that it affects the match quality. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but I think as they get older they’ll start to bring their best level against each other more frequently.

Would like to see @Waspsting do a rundown of their USO 22 QF, that match had everything.

 

[7thKingSlam]

Would like to see @Waspsting do a rundown of their USO 22 QF, that match had everything.

Would be a fun read for sure. I didn’t watch it live, but watched it in full at some point after the fact, maybe around 2 years ago. My main takeaway at the time was that it’s great entertainment and had great highlights, but quality was kinda all over the place. Choky from Sinner, and both guys served poorly (which added to the entertainment). Still, the level of baseline power there was pretty ridiculous, since that was also back when Sinner used to bash the ball at low margin targets with reckless abandon.

But it’s definitely not a match I feel like I know well so I’d love to see other thoughts on it.

 

[Kralingen]

Would like to see @Waspsting do a rundown of their USO 22 QF, that match had everything.

Would be a fun read for sure. I didn’t watch it live, but watched it in full at some point after the fact, maybe around 2 years ago. My main takeaway at the time was that it’s great entertainment and had great highlights, but quality was kinda all over the place. Choky from Sinner, and both guys served poorly (which added to the entertainment). Still, the level of baseline power there was pretty ridiculous, since that was also back when Sinner used to bash the ball at low margin targets with reckless abandon.

But it’s definitely not a match I feel like I know well so I’d love to see other thoughts on it.

The serving was quite hilarious in that match on both ends. To say WTA level is usually a heinous exaggeration but in that case it wasn’t. The break count alone tells the story but often the service games felt as if they had no chance of success, and both players routinely lost the plot.

Now, I did view it as visually striking in a new way, because of the sheer pace of play. Sure, the ball striking was not as crisp as we’d come to expect from both in later years… powerful, yes, precise, not so much. But the meta displayed in that match, hit the **** out of the ball at all costs, nuclear arms race, marked the turn of a new era in 2023 and 24. Heavy weaponry is the new defense - breaking down opponents with huge blasts off both wings, mixing weight of shot and raw power, this is much more true of tennis in 2025 than it was in 2015.

It is more of an influential match, and a harbinger of things to come, than anything spectacular quality wise. You could argue Kecmanovic-Alcaraz in Miami was just as good in every aspect, except just Bo3. But that’s sport, it was drama filled and epic and felt like eating an endless candy bar that switched flavors every minute. I can still feel the electricity from that match and in ways it is THE match of the era.

 

[7thKingSlam]

The serving was quite hilarious in that match on both ends. To say WTA level is usually a heinous exaggeration but in that case it wasn’t. The break count alone tells the story but often the service games felt as if they had no chance of success, and both players routinely lost the plot.

Now, I did view it as visually striking in a new way, because of the sheer pace of play. Sure, the ball striking was not as crisp as we’d come to expect from both in later years… powerful, yes, precise, not so much. But the meta displayed in that match, hit the **** out of the ball at all costs, nuclear arms race, marked the turn of a new era in 2023 and 24. Heavy weaponry is the new defense - breaking down opponents with huge blasts off both wings, mixing weight of shot and raw power, this is much more true of tennis in 2025 than it was in 2015.

It is more of an influential match, and a harbinger of things to come, than anything spectacular quality wise. You could argue Kecmanovic-Alcaraz in Miami was just as good in every aspect, except just Bo3. But that’s sport, it was drama filled and epic and felt like eating an endless candy bar that switched flavors every minute. I can still feel the electricity from that match and in ways it is THE match of the era.

I love bad serving matches lol. Especially with elite returners like these two, it feels like the server is at a complete disadvantage because every return is a laser at their feet.

 

[objection_]

I love bad serving matches lol. Especially with elite returners like these two, it feels like the server is at a complete disadvantage because every return is a laser at their feet.

To be honest almost every great match had to have elements of choking and dips in quality, I guess that's what makes them fun. Imagine if Nadal for instance had converted the breakpoints in the 3rd set of WB 2008, which he missed easy second serve returns on, or if he closed out RG 2013 in the 4th. We would probably never have seen the rest of these incredible affairs.

 

[7thKingSlam]

To be honest almost every great match had to have elements of choking and dips in quality, I guess that's what makes them fun. Imagine if Nadal for instance had converted the breakpoints in the 3rd set of WB 2008, which he missed easy second serve returns on, or if he closed out RG 2013 in the 4th. We would probably never have seen the rest of these incredible affairs.

I think it’s less about choking and more that most great matches are so long (usually around 5 hours) that there’s bound to be some bad moments in there.