Alcaraz slight favourite to beat Sinner in China Open final

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the China Open final on Wednesday in Beijing after the top two seeds both won their semi-finals in straight sets on Tuesday.

Tennis bookmakers have had the pair on the top two lines of betting all week, with Bet365 putting Alcaraz ($1.80) marginally ahead of defending champion Sinner ($2) heading into the championship match.

Alcaraz earned his spot in the final with an impressive 7-5, 6-3 win over world No.5 Daniil Medvedev.

The 21-year-old served well, facing just two break points across the one-hour, 27-minute match.

With the victory, Alcaraz improved his record against top-five players in 2024 to a tour-leading 7-1.

Earlier in the tournament, he overcame Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (6-4, 6-4), Tallon Griekspoor (6-1, 6-2) and Karen Khachanov (7-5, 6-2).

Sinner’s semi-final was against a surprise package in the form of local wildcard Yunchaokete Bu.

The Italian was a $1.07 favourite to beat the Chinese player, yet he required a second-set tiebreaker to win it 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Once again, Sinner showed his impressive ability under pressure, having now won 17 of his last 18 tiebreakers.

Sinner had a tougher route to the last four than Alcaraz, going the distance against Nicolas Jarry (4-6, 6-3, 6-1) and Roman Safiullin (3-6, 6-2, 6-3) before downing Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals.

Alcaraz leads the rivalry between the game’s two young stars, moving ahead 5-4 after he prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the French Open earlier this year.

But the Spaniard is not counting his chickens in Beijing.

“Jannik is the best player in the world right now,” he said after his semi-final victory.

“As I always said, I really like the battles, the toughest match facing the best players in the world.

“Against Jannik in the final, I will be happy.”

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