By Shrivathsa Sridhar
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Defending champion Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are aiming for a third successive Grand Slam final meeting when they take their high-voltage rivalry to the U.S. Open while Novak Djokovic looks to foil the new generation as he hunts a 25th major.
There is no shortage of compelling themes heading into the year’s final Grand Slam, with Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev looking to win a first major and Djokovic aiming to move past Margaret Court and take sole possession of the all-time record.
All eyes will be on Sinner and Alcaraz, however, as the torch-bearers of the current generation go into battle again with the world number one ranking at stake.
After Alcaraz saved match points to win a marathon French Open final and retain his crown, Sinner got even by dethroning the Spaniard at Wimbledon last month, setting the stage for a mouth-watering New York final should the pair get there.
While Australian Open champion Sinner has been the dominant force on hardcourts in recent years, he has won only two of his seven clashes with Alcaraz on the surface, which has contributed to his 5-9 overall head-to-head record against the world number two.
The top-ranked Italian arrives in New York having retired due to illness in the Cincinnati final between the duo on Monday, which sparked concerns about his durability after extended spells in the unforgiving heat of the American summer.
“The U.S. Open is going to be a tough tournament but at the same time I’m looking forward to it,” the four-times Grand Slam champion said ahead of the tournament, which begins on Sunday.
“If I’m ready, physically and mentally, I’ll be ready to push.
“A couple of days of recovery, and then we get again back to work, and hopefully we’ll be ready.”
BETTER EQUIPPED
Alcaraz, who won the first of his five major trophies in 2022 at Flushing Meadows, suffered a shock second-round defeat last year but is better equipped this time around to tackle all challenges including that posed by the heat.
“I come from Murcia and it’s really hot there,” he said.
“Right now it’s almost 43-44 degrees Celsius there. So I’m used to playing in these extreme conditions. In some matches, I just struggle a lot, I have to be honest, but I’m really happy with the way that I deal with everything.”
Alcaraz, who will be defending only 50 points compared to Sinner’s 2,000, will leave New York with the top ranking if he triumphs but danger lurks around every corner and few players will pose a bigger threat than a fully-fit Djokovic.
With no tune-up tournaments in the build-up to the event, Djokovic may come in undercooked but only the bold would completely write off the Serb, who is bidding to win his first major since his win in New York two editions ago.
No player knows how to beat the odds better than Djokovic and victory would see the 38-year-old finally move past Australian great Court with the pair currently tied on 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
Zverev continues his pursuit of a maiden major after being frustrated during the dominance of the “Big Three”. The German has tasted defeat in three Grand Slam finals, including in New York five years ago.
He faces a test of his powers of recovery after struggling physically in his Cincinnati semi-final against Alcaraz.
Shelton will lead the American challenge after winning the biggest title of his career at the Canadian Open this month, although he was helped by the field being depleted in a gruelling season.
No American man has lifted the U.S. Open title since Andy Roddick in 2003 and Fritz came up painfully short last year as Sinner made quick work of the big-hitting world number four to lift his maiden New York title.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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