Djokovic wins Beijing - will he make Turin? Sinner ends season - what does it mean? Shanghai preview

John Silk (0:00)

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Well, hello everyone, and welcome in to ATP Weekly. I am joined by Fergus. I am Brenner, and we are back. It's been a while, Fergus.

SPEAKER_2 (0:20)

It has been a while.

Fergus (0:21)

It has definitely been a while.

John Silk (0:24)

The winners today kind of fit the bill for how long it's been, because we haven't talked about these two players together in quite a while. And that is Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, who took home the two ATP 500s. This week, Alcaraz in Tokyo, Djokovic in Beijing.

Let's start with Carlos. This is his first tour event back after the US Open. What are your initial thoughts on just how he looked, kind of how he portrayed himself on court, emotions and just physically?

Fergus (1:07)

Physically, he looks strong. He looks as though he kind of took the US Open as a really good kind of stepping stone into the last part of the year and kind of gaining those points where he can. Obviously, he wasn't going to gain any points this week as he was defending champ. But the first set against Munal was kind of just like a classic example of Carlos kind of overhitting and kind of pressing himself into a little bit of a corner.

I will pretty much die on the hill is that if Carlos is in full flight, you can't touch him. And that you need him to play somewhat below par for you to kind of take a set and kind of grab a foothold in a match against him. But the final was very fitting against Yuri. I mean, Yuri's second final of the year next to Miami. And felt as though, you know, obviously, first set is very competitive, but it just never felt like Lehechka was gonna, you know, really assert himself in the match. This is a second final that he's to have played, if you remember Queen's a couple of years ago. Not a couple of years ago, last year. Yeah.

But Week was very strong. Carlos was always gonna be favorite coming into it. Just a few, you know, kind of thoughts about his physical health, but physical health looks good. I mean, the set against Mickelson and the moon are set, you know, only hiccups, great week.

John Silk (2:57)

Dare I say, the Lever Cup was really important for Alcaraz, because I think it allowed him to kind of express himself again freely, not necessarily like result free, but definitely less pressure. Knowing that it's a three day event, you're only going to play a certain number of matches, which I think was, what was it, two singles and a doubles match?

Fergus (3:28)

Two singles and a doubles. Yeah, two singles and a doubles.

John Silk (3:31)

But it just allowed him to kind of free up a bit, get some more cobwebs off, because it's difficult. Four months off and you return to the US Open, the last major of the year, the highest stakes, and everyone is just beaming on you to see what level you have and what you have to offer. And I think it's still kind of looking back on the smirk on his face at 3.45 in the morning, walking out of Arthur Ashe after he lost to Shetland, kind of knowing like, okay, I'm back, I can do this. And I think Laver Cup allowed him to, you know, gain a little bit more match rhythm, per se. And it allowed him to kind of come here saying, okay, fresh start. And I think he used every match effectively. We got the run to the title on the screen here. Mickelson, obviously the first one, dropping that second, but finding a way to just get his rhythm and be untouchable on the third. Arnaldi, I actually watched the full match here, and Alcaz was kind of just playing around. It felt like the whole first set was down a rake, retrieved it. Then was down six too, and that tie rake rattles off six points in a row and didn't look back.

Was not able to catch the Shapovalov or Munar matches, but it felt like it was just steady growth each match. Finding the rhythm, just looking more comfortable out there. And when Alcaz is looking comfortable, feeling comfortable, and expressing himself like that, with all the variety, it's almost unplayable. So definitely think it was a good trajectory for him this week, and I also showed this quote here.

He didn't know if he was going to win again this season.

I think there were so many question marks, and we're gonna be having similar conversations about Sinner, but maybe in a different realm. We'll eventually get to that. But Alcaz, we were just waiting to see him unload on the forehand, and definitely improve that serve, numbers-wise, because in the US Open, it was definitely down. But with best of three, I think it was a little bit easier for him to go out there, kind of knowing what's ahead of him, as opposed to having to play a marathon-oriented match. But defensively, unbelievable. And then I think the difference maker in that final was just his ability to mix it up. You know, Lahatchka, I had him, I picked him to be in the final. I did, I predicted this final. I know Lahatchka just loves these conditions. And he's not far away as a player from being in that top five conversation. It's just, he's very, I mean, he's just one of the best ball strikers in the world. And that's amazing. But when you have balls that are varying at heights and different spins, it's a little bit more difficult to kind of show off your ball striking ability. When you're off balance, you have to time it up. And Alcaraz just does such a good job of kind of taking pace off it, getting it up and out of players' strike zones, and them having to think and adjust and obviously play against them. It's just so much to think about. And I think that was kind of the difference maker today, as he came from a set or from a breakdown, retrieved it and was also down in the breaker. And there it is, Carlos Alcaraz gets it done and defends his title. Defends his title.