The China Mail - Paris glory means nothing to Alcaraz ahead of Sinner rematch in Wimbledon final

Just 35 days after Alcaraz saved three championship points and came from two sets down to beat Sinner in the longest final in French Open history, the Spaniard will once again lock horns with the world number one.

Alcaraz, the two-time defending Wimbledon champion, battled into his third successive All England Club showpiece with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) win over American fifth seed Taylor Fritz.

Sinner responded only hours later with a statement of intent, the Italian top seed crushing seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in a masterful display.

Sunday's eagerly anticipated showdown will be the 13th meeting between Alcaraz and Sinner, with the Spaniard holding an 8-4 edge after winning the past five.

Sinner, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is adamant his collapse on clay at Roland Garros no longer preys on his mind, and Alcaraz is convinced his rival will not wilt in their rematch.

"Not at all, to be honest. What Jannik has, because he learned from everything as a huge champion, from the losses, from the matches he's playing, he just get better after every match," Alcaraz said.

"I'm pretty sure he's going to take a lot of things from the French Open final. He's being to be better physically, he's going to be better mentally. He's going to be prepared to give 100 percent.

"I'm not thinking I have the advantage mentally on Sunday because of that match."

Since beating Sinner to secure his fifth Grand Slam crown, Alcaraz has tried not to wallow in his remarkable triumph.

- 'The best match' -

The 22-year-old has barely watched the match since, focusing instead on his grass-court campaign, but he did acknowledge it was the highlight of his career to date.

"I didn't watch it again. Just a few clips, to be honest, few points, but not that much," he said.

"I'm still thinking about that moment sometimes. It was the best match that I have ever played so far."

Sinner's superb performance against Djokovic, who was struggling with fitness issues, took him to a fourth successive Grand Slam final.

Alcaraz is ready for another bruising encounter, even if he would prefer not to be on court for five-and-a-half hours again in a repeat of the French Open slugfest.

"I'm not surprised he pushed me to the limit. I expect that on Sunday," he said.

"The level that Jannik's playing, it's really high, as always. I think he doesn't get down in the matches. It's unbelievable what he can do on a tennis court.

"I just hope not to be five hours and a half on court again. As I said, if I have to, I will. But I think it's going to be great."

Alcaraz, on a career-best 24-match winning streak, is well aware that Sinner is the last man to beat him at Wimbledon in 2022.

Since then, the Spaniard has won 20 successive All England Club matches.

"I'm not going to watch the match in 2022 because we are just completely different players," he said.

After the golden era of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the transition to a new era of dominance for Alcaraz and Sinner is well under way.

"The things we are doing right now I think is great for tennis. We just fight to engage more people to watch tennis," Alcaraz said.

"For me, it's sharing the big tournaments with Jannik, playing in the finals.

"We are still really young. So I just hope to keep doing the right things for the next five or 10 years, to put our rivalry on the same level as those players."

Z.Huang--ThChM