[tense music playing]
[Prakash] The culture and beauty
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
have been seen
all across the globe this week
through the eyes of some of the greatest
athletes in the tennis world.
While they immerse themselves
in the culture,
they have also brought their very best
to do battle here in the desert
to see who amongst the six will be king.
-[music concludes]
-[intriguing music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
-[tense music playing]
-[Prakash] Six kings entered the court,
each drew their cards.
-Skill, power, precision.
-[crowd cheering]
[Prakash] But in the end,
the deck narrowed.
No more joker to play,
only two aces remain.
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner.
A rivalry as sweet as a royal flush.
Last year's final was an instant classic.
[announcer] Jannik Sinner,
proud champion…
of the Six Kings Slam.
[Prakash] This year's is destiny.
One final hand to play.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Prakash] Two kings.
One throne.
[music concludes]
[tense music playing]
[Prakash] Droves of people
entering the beautiful ANB Arena
as Riyadh Season has been in full flow,
with tennis being the current highlight.
Spearheaded by His Excellency
and the General Entertainment Authority,
sport, culture, and entertainment
coming together
has been a spectacularly
special sight to witness.
Borg and McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi…
-[music concludes]
-…Roger, Rafa, Novak.
It's the greatest rivalries
that have always pushed this sport
to new heights.
Carlos Alcaraz versus Jannik Sinner
continues to do the same.
It is all going down here tonight
when the unstoppable force
meets the irresistible object.
I'm Prakash Amritraj
and this is the Six Kings Slam final
live on Netflix.
We now welcome our team here,
who is looking very finals ready.
Masters 1000 champ, Davis Cup champ,
Olympic silver medalist,
Tim Henman, Feli Lopez, Laura Robson.
You guys came to play today.
You know it's a big deal
when they put the jackets on.
Laura, you said it--
[chuckles] It's finals time.
It's finals time.
And this event has only been
about the best playing the best,
and that's exactly what we've got tonight.
We've got the world number one
against the world number two.
They split the last eight Grand Slams.
I cannot wait to see what happens tonight.
Well, every match has proved
to be so fun to watch, but visually, Feli,
what makes these two guys
such a good pairing to watch?
I think, the contrast
of styles and personalities,
I think, one is the shot maker, you know,
Carlos, he likes the show,
he likes the interaction with the crowd,
while Sinner is, you know,
focused, doesn't show anything,
so I think, this is probably
what makes this rivalry so special.
I had some heart palpitations
watching some of these
Grand Slam finals this year
especially the French,
but after those three in a row, Laura,
mentally, how do you see
each player coming into this one?
It's so hard to know
who has the edge in this one
because they've had
such different results over this year,
obviously that epic in Paris,
but then quite convincing matches
for both of them
in their own respective ways
at Wimbledon and at US Open.
So, I think,
they're in this beautiful stage
of figuring each other out,
constantly pushing each other
and knowing that, you know,
they have to test their own limits
in order to beat the other one.
Mentally, I think, when you look
at the head-to-head,
the fact that Carlos has won
seven of the last eight,
perhaps that plays a part,
but best of three
is a totally different scenario tonight.
Well, great thing for Sinner.
He won that huge one at Wimbledon.
Tim, Carlos said an interesting thing.
We were chatting in Rome and he said,
"You know, I need Jannik.
I like seeing him in the draw."
And I thought that was so fascinating
because that's his biggest competition,
but that's also the reason
why he's improving so much.
Yeah, most definitely.
I mean, in your brilliant intro,
you mentioned all the great rivalries,
whether it's Agassi and Sampras,
Becker and Edberg,
and Venus and Serena.
You know, they always need someone
to keep pushing the bar higher and higher.
And I think, that's exactly
what's happened with these two.
They've come along at the perfect time.
We were looking for that next generation
and they've arrived
and their results have reflected
over the last couple of years.
So, any time they get
the opportunity of going head-to-head,
I think, they want to prove another point.
But I think, tonight could be
an absolute another classic.
Let's take a look at our order of play
before we get to Sinner and Alcaraz.
We have such a treat in store
for everyone.
Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champ,
Novak Djokovic
will take on the number-one American
in the world, Taylor Fritz.
Djokovic placed third last year,
defeating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
And of course, following that
will be Sinner versus Alcaraz.
Absolutely can't wait to see
how this goes down,
but in addition to the brilliant tennis
that all of these champions
have been playing,
they've been immersing themselves
in the culture as well.
[light upbeat music playing]
It's… I mean, it's an honor to be here,
get the chance to compete against,
you know, the other best players
in the world. It's a huge event.
[Tsitsipas] I think
this is what it is all about.
You get to compete
against the best players in your sport,
and also fight for something huge,
something big,
-something that tennis hasn't seen before.
-[crowd cheering]
For sure it helped to play also last year,
so you know a little bit
how the atmosphere is and everything.
You know, the most important is to…
let people get to know tennis
here in this area.
[Zverev] This country and the people
are very welcoming
and we don't get to see
much of the Riyadh Season
because of course we have to prepare,
we have to get ready for the tournament,
and then play ourselves,
but this event has great partners
as well, such as Netflix,
and that the event
is really global nowadays.
Every match, full house,
people, you know, screaming,
getting excited
at pretty much every point,
really supporting their favorite players.
[crowd cheering]
For me, it is great that tennis
is a big part
of the Riyadh Season once again.
So, it is amazing to feel the energy
and the love from the people
-that, you know, we are not used to.
-[music concludes]
It's been absolutely brilliant
to see all the players take in
the magnificent Saudi culture
and community.
A lot of business to be done here today.
Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic,
very lopsided head-to-head,
but the American has been playing
some much tighter matches as of late.
[Tim] Yeah, he has. And we always
talk about staying in the present.
-And I think for Fritz…
-[Prakash chuckles]
…to look back into the past…
[Prakash]
He's the cup half-full kinda guy.
[Tim] …it's not particularly attractive.
Played 11, lost 11.
But as you said,
these types of conditions,
a little bit of altitude,
it's fast through the air.
It's a hard court. This is where,
I think, Fritz has been making
some big strides in the game.
He's been knocking on the door.
He's been in a Slam final.
So, I think, this is a great opportunity
for him to get that first victory.
But it felt at the US Open
in the quarterfinal matchup
that Taylor didn't even play
his best tennis,
-but it was still a really tight match.
-Yes.
He had more than enough chances,
but just didn't take it.
Do you think
that that's more confidence related
-because of the head-to-head?
-Yeah. I mean, I think,
-you think the expectation--
-Expectation.
The expectations there
were too high for him.
Probably the last opportunity for him
to win Novak Djokovic in a Grand Slam
at, you know, home soil.
That's a lot of pressure
to handle for Taylor.
Today he will be playing
free of pressure, you know.
It's a different, you know, environment.
So, I think he's going to be ready today
to get the first win.
[Prakash] One of my favorite things
about Taylor,
Laura, you've touched on it several times,
he is such an unbelievable competitor.
He always comes in feeling
he can win that match that he's playing.
But the nuts and bolts of his game, Feli,
is based on that big serve of his.
So, around that shot,
assuming he serves well,
how can he complement that today?
Yeah, he's building his game
around that huge serve.
I think, the plus one is very important,
especially on the forehand side.
You know, he's the one
dictating the points normally,
when he's, you know, putting a good,
decent percentage of first serves in.
So, I think, it's going to be,
you know, key for him
to serve, you know,
accurate high percentage
and the plus one is very
important against Novak Djokovic.
Maybe going to the net at times.
I think, he didn't add-- He wasn't adding
any elements into his game lately.
It's true that he was closing the gap
with the top three,
with Novak, with Carlos and with Sinner,
but I think, he needs
to add other elements into his game.
Tim, you've watched so many
of Novak's matches over the years.
He has this ability,
whether things are going well or not,
to just go into lockdown mode.
You won't see an unforced error for hours.
Does this court make it tougher
to employ that?
[Tim] I mean, I think,
because of the altitude,
it's quicker through the air,
so Fritz can look to dominate
if he's very aggressive.
However, I think, when they get
into those baseline exchanges,
when you bring in
the other elements of the game,
maybe the slice backhand, you know,
a little bit of feel around the net,
that's where Djokovic has the edge.
And I think,
you know, Fritz has to be brave.
He's got to look
to finish the point at the net.
But when he gets to the net,
sometimes the volleys
are a little bit wooden.
He doesn't necessarily have the field.
But he's got to go out there and play
with that freedom, as Laura said,
to be, you know, uber aggressive.
Djokovic is not going to beat himself.
Fritz has to go out there
to get the job done.
Laura, if you kind of compartmentalize
this match into sections here,
because Taylor hasn't gotten
a win in the past,
is the beginning
at a premium importance for him?
[clicks tongue] You would think so.
Yeah, an early break of serve,
I'm sure, will mentally feel a bit
of a relief for him.
But when you look
at this kind of scenario,
playing for third and fourth playoff,
usually, you know,
you lose a match in a week,
you're on to the next tournament,
you're already thinking
about the next week.
So, I think, for Taylor, it gives him
the opportunity to work on things
that maybe didn't go so well
against Jannik Sinner.
And, you know, we saw him struggle
with a couple of double faults
at key moments in that matchup,
whether he tries to do something
differently with the first serve,
as these guys have been talking about,
and just play freely from the start.
But you think if this is,
you know, the perfect situation
for him to do it, why not?
I think, we might see him turn around
this head-to-head tonight.
We haven't gotten a chance to see
Novak Djokovic play a lot this year,
but the tournaments he's played,
he has been masterful,
he's made the semis of all the slams.
With not as many matches under his belt,
Henners, when he gets on the court
against a top five opponent,
-it's got to be very important.
-Yeah, definitely.
I think, when he's played
so consistently in the Slams,
when he's got through to the semis
on all four occasions,
over best of five sets, that's probably,
with all due respect, at his age,
where he's been fatiguing a little bit.
However,
when you're in this type of format,
it's best of three,
he comes in a lot fresher.
That's where I think
we've got the opportunity
to see him put on another masterclass.
Well, if anyone wants
to see two guys who are masterful
from all parts of the court
blasting away at the ball,
this is going to be a brilliant one.
Let's take a closer look
at both our champions.
-[crowd cheering]
-[epic music playing]
[Tim] Just relentless pressure from Fritz.
[Mark] He has produced
another absolute dagger.
Magnificent.
Everything done with purpose,
with great intention.
[Tim] Beautifully done.
-[Mark] Unbelievable!
-[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
[announcer] The finest players
in the world are in the Kingdom.
Riyadh plays host
to six legendary competitors.
Every session a sellout
as the six kings go head-to-head.
Six kings, yes, but only one crown.
[dramatic music playing]
[crowd clapping rhythmically]
-[clapping quickens]
-[crowd cheering]
[clapping hastens]
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[electrical current buzzing]
[electricity crackling]
[Riyadh Season logo whirring]
[cards shuffling]
[music crescendos]
-[music concludes]
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
["Levels" playing]
[announcer] From California,
the world number four,
a Grand Slam finalist,
the winner of ten titles,
the United States number one.
-Would you welcome Taylor Fritz.
-[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
-["Thunderstruck" playing]
-[crowd cheering]
♪ Thunder ♪
-[announcer] From Belgrade, Serbia…
-[crowd cheering]
[announcer] …he's won 100 titles,
including 24 majors,
he's been world number one
for over eight years,
he's changed the sport,
the best of all time,
-Novak Djokovic.
-[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
[Djokovic] All right.
Okay, for the towels,
we have numbers today,
so take the odd numbers,
please, for the towels.
Take the even numbers for the towels.
We have numbers on the boxes.
[Djokovic] Okay,
I'll take the even numbers.
The even numbers, yes.
Remember we have video reviews
so you can use it
for not ups, or touches or--
-Okay? Questions?
-[Djokovic] No.
Would you like to call it?
-[Fritz] Sure. Tails, please.
-Tails.
-And heads. Novak?
-I'll serve.
[chair umpire] Serve.
Let's take a photo that way, please.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[crowd member shouting indistinctly]
[Prakash]
Oh, warm-up's about to get started.
Taylor looks confident
walking on the court.
We did talk about the elements
of how important the serve will be.
Laura, let's go a little further.
How specific does he need to be
with the serving today?
[Laura] Yeah, I do think Novak Djokovic
won with the walkout music,
if that's a competition,
but we saw throughout
the week that Taylor Fritz
has been hitting his spots
on the first serve placement,
about 80% on the ad side in particular,
where he's really,
really close to the lines,
and about only 20% through
the middle of the court.
And so we saw yesterday
Novak Djokovic have to change
his return position
throughout his matchup.
And I'm sure he gave it a look in
for the rest of the players in the draw
of where they could potentially go.
And for Taylor, you know,
if he can keep
that first serve percentage high,
then he's absolutely
going to have a great chance.
For Novak, as he's returning someone
who's got such a great serve,
he's been masterful
with the return over the years.
Is it a matter
of robbing time from Taylor,
or just putting a heavy amount
of returns in play?
[Tim] Yeah, I think also
Djokovic can really mix it up.
They're both so comfortable
at the back of the court
on forehand and backhand.
But, you know, at times,
if Djokovic looks to change the pace,
if he uses the slice,
sometimes the short slice,
Fritz is so good moving side to side,
but if you can get him moving,
you know, forwards and back.
But also, I think when we've reflected
on the head-to-head,
obviously Djokovic feels so comfortable
with this matchup.
It's gonna see whether Fritz
can really take Djokovic
out of his comfort zone.
We talk about being aggressive
you wonder whether, sometimes,
Fritz might also try and extend
the rallies to make Djokovic work,
because, you know, as he's got older
the movement is invariably
going to become harder and harder.
[Prakash] We got a good look
at Novak Djokovic's bio there.
Twenty-four grand Slams.
and still playing
the absolute top level of tennis.
Absolutely unbelievable longevity-wise
what he's been able to do.
Laura, how much
do you think he's affected the game
in which… where other players learn
from all the little things
that he does to continue to elevate?
[Laura] Oh, my goodness.
I mean, it's unparalleled the amount
of influence he has over the years.
It was way back in the day
when he was doing gluten-free,
then every other player
was doing gluten-free
because they were like, "Oh,
if Novak's doing it, it must be right."
And he's had that kind of influence
in the locker room for 20-plus years now.
And just does all the right things,
is so consistent with his preparation,
with his mentality and his approach,
and just his dedication
really to the sport.
And so to see him at 38
still competing with the very best,
still getting so many wins on the board.
Yeah, it's just incredibly impressive.
And we all just feel lucky
to still see this guy on the court.
[Prakash] It's such an event.
Every time he steps on the court,
a true gift.
Taking a look at Taylor Fritz now,
He's been progressing each
and every year through the tour,
winning a Masters 1000 title
in Indian Wells,
making the final
of the US Open last year as well.
As far as the game is concerned,
Henners, he's improved various aspects.
Your old coach, Paul Annacone,
is working with him
alongside his other coach, Mike Russell.
The net game,
I see him trying to come in a bit
more-- When you go a little bit deeper,
what would you like
to see improve there?
[Tim] Yeah, exactly that.
Because from the serve,
the plus one, forehand and backhand,
he's playing brilliant tennis.
And when I think about success,
I think that's about
maximizing your potential.
And I look at Taylor Fritz,
he's leaving no stone unturned.
He's looking to, you know,
take everything out of his game
and that is the… you know, I think,
one of the final pieces of the puzzle.
If he can use those ground strokes
and then finish the point with just
some solid volleying,
then I think that's where he has
opportunity of not only winning tonight,
but closing the gap on Alcaraz and Sinner.
[Prakash] Laura let's talk patterns
a little bit here.
Taylor, of course,
he's very comfortable on both sides
he doesn't mind pulling
the backhand up the line.
Where do you think he needs to focus?
Does he need to stay out of backhand
cross-courts with Novak?
What's sort of his best pattern
to look forward to?
[Laura] I definitely think
the backhand line, as you mentioned,
is such a strong shot for him.
His ability to open up
the line on either side,
but especially
that unexpected change of pace
on the backhand, where he just rips it.
It skims the net.
It's always so low and flat,
and so it makes it difficult
for his opponent,
who then has to play up on the next shot.
So, it's just about his ability
to maintain
that aggressive position up the court.
But yeah, it's a battle
of two excellent ball strikers tonight,
from the back of the court especially.
They are absolutely some of the best,
so we're in for a treat.
[Prakash] These are only the best players
in the world here,
so there's so much pride here
on the line.
Henners, when it gets a little bit tight,
four-all, five-all, breaker,
do you feel any nerves
could come into play for the American?
[Tim] Absolutely.
I mean, he's not only trying
to beat Novak Djokovic,
but it's for the first time.
It's something
that he has not accomplished,
but what an opportunity it is tonight.
[Prakash] Certainly,
absolutely packed arena here.
Energy is fantastic.
Let's head up to the booth.
Mark Petchey, Feliciano Lopez.
Guys,
I can't wait to see the start of this one.
[Mark] Thanks, Prakash.
Yeah, we can't either.
The greatest of all time.
First up tonight, of course,
we've savored his triumphs.
We've analyzed his defeats.
We've even read some premature
sporting obituaries for him.
And yet,
he has consistently come back to defy
what was believed to be impossible.
It has been an unprecedented adventure
that Novak has taken us on.
And it's another chance
to see the 24-time champ.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] And Feli,
that's a nice clean start for Novak.
[Feliciano chuckles]
Free point on serve, yeah.
I couldn't agree more with you, Mark.
What a final day of tennis
that we have here ahead in Riyadh.
[Mark] And let's get into the weeds
very quickly there.
But on the second point of the match,
look how wide Taylor was standing
on the return,
kind of goading Novak to go down the T,
which is exactly where Novak went,
and he hit the forearm return.
[Feliciano] After 11 times,
I think he's guessing right. [chuckles]
[Mark] Got to try something.
[line umpire] Out.
[Mark] That's a fairly big gap down
the T there on the deuce side, Taylor.
Taylor's in decent company.
He's not the only man that has faced Novak
and come away with zero losses.
Gael Monfils, 20-0. Jeremy Chardy, 14-0.
Raonic and Andreas Seppi, the Italian.
Both finished their career
with a dozen losses against Novak
without picking up a win.
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Feliciano] That 20-0
must have been painful, huh?
[Mark] Still painful.
He's got one more year
to change it though, Gael.
Last time around the globe
for the great Frenchman.
Oh, that's what we've come
to Saudi Arabia to watch.
Shots like that.
Bolt of lightning
off the strings of Fritz.
Done a good job over the last 12 months
against big servers
of just chopping it back into play,
and you could see
that on the forehand side.
And he may have to squeeze that space
because Novak's exploited it.
[chair umpire] First game.
[Mark] And what a season it's been.
Obviously,
the numbers speak for themselves
in terms of what Novak
has been able to achieve
throughout the course of his career.
But the fact that he was able,
at 38 years of age,
to make four semis
of the majors this year,
particularly when he's not able
to necessarily play a full schedule,
-is remarkable.
-[Feliciano] It's remarkable, Mark,
the fact that he played
very few tournaments,
but when he really needed,
he performed, you know, at his best.
And he's been 39, almost, years old.
This is incredible.
Laura mentioned before his dedication,
his commitment to the sport,
his motivation after winning everything,
you know,
multiple times in the sport.
[line umpire] Fault.
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] A couple of titles
on the grass this year for Taylor
in Stuttgart and Eastbourne,
taking his tally to ten.
It was a slightly slow burn
for him in terms of matches won
in the first part of the year.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Subsequently put over
and puts together
a third consecutive season
with 50-plus wins, the American.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[line umpire] Out.
-[Mark] That has just gone vertical.
-[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] Straight off the bounce
and above where Novak was expecting it.
I've seen a few of those this week.
[Feliciano] Is it the court, Mark,
or do you think it's the altitude as well?
[Mark] Yeah, I kind of feel
it's a little bit of everything.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Mark] This is the turn
he got, of course,
was that epic Australian Open match
in 2021 against Novak, round of 32.
It's a weird end to it as well,
'cause it was during that period of time
when there was a quarantine in play
down in Melbourne,
and all the fans had to leave,
but ended up going to five sets.
Novak has been leading two sets
to love, only apt here.
Somehow managed to win the whole event.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Quick turn of play,
you could see on the slice.
He took a little jump to his left
to cover the cross-court backhand
from Taylor.
[Feliciano] And also changing his position
on the return significantly
on the ad side compared
to where he was on the deuce side.
He went so far back to hit that return.
Always finding the way, Novak Djokovic.
[line umpire] Fault.
[young crowd member]
Let's go, Novak, let's go!
[chair umpire] Thank you, thank you.
[Mark] Can't play better point than that.
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] Wrestled control of it
with that forehand cross-court
and then managed to stay on top.
Novak does like to use the slice
against Taylor, it's not a shot
that Taylor likes to respond to
with a slice of his own.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Dropped the guardrails
on his forehand very quickly
in this particular game here, Fritz,
and is just unloading on the forehand.
[Feliciano] And seems to be very committed
to be aggressive today.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Novak definitely recognizing that,
throwing in a little run-up
to the net behind the serve.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Mark] Numbers can be for accountants,
but they do tell you
a little bit of a story.
They don't tell you everything,
but Novak's had sort
of three or four seasons
in recent times that have been
some of his best serving numbers
at the back end of his career.
Once again,
just underlining his unquenchable thirst
for excellence and it was needed.
At love-30 down, trailing,
he's found some excellent
first-serve deliveries.
[chair umpire]
Djokovic leads, two games to one.
[Mark] And we are still on serve
after three games.
That's Novak's serve.
Let's take a look at Taylor's
over the course
of this particular tournament.
And Feli, you like to hit your spots
with your serve.
He's done a very nice job, hasn't he?
[Feliciano] I think he's been targeting
the corners very well.
On 71% on the on the deuce side,
not aiming for the body serve.
But yeah,
it's been looking great so far, his serve.
[Mark] Yeah,
That makes life a lot easier, doesn't it?
When you're not having a plus-one shot.
That is his season average.
It sounds quite high, doesn't it?
Almost 50% of your first serves
not coming back.
But after Mensik and Mpetshi Perricard,
he's the third best on tour.
Tim Henman's joined us. He's returned.
-You're not unreturned.
-[Tim chuckles]
I've made my way from court side up here
into the commentary box.
And I think a sort of really
positive start from both players.
I've been impressed
by the way Fritz has looked
to be very aggressive
when he gets the opportunity at the back
of the court, taking the ball on,
looking to dominate proceedings.
But an impressive response from Djokovic
with that first serve,
as you mentioned, hitting the spots,
keeping Fritz at bay.
[Mark] Novak, over the course
of his career
has pretty much enjoyed playing
American players.
He's actually played them 100 times
on the main tour.
He's won 89 times. He's lost just 11.
Give me your little quick pop quiz,
who's he lost to
out of the American players?
There's obviously been
a few multiple losses
against certain players.
[Tim] Would someone like Roddick
have got him early on?
[Mark] Five of those are Roddick's.
-[Feliciano] Five? Wow.
-[Mark] Yeah. Oh, that's a bit…
I mean, you guys,
you've got Andy Roddick's text
coming in right now, actually.
-[Feliciano] No, no, no, no.
-[Mark chuckles]
-[Feliciano] I didn't mean that…
-[Tim] I did.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
-[Mark chuckles]
Wolfgang Oswald, who's Taylor's physio.
Yeah, Roddick with five.
A couple of big servers in there, boys.
-[Tim] Isner?
-[Mark] Yeah, a couple of times.
-[Feliciano] Not Karlovic.
-[Tim] He's not American.
[Feliciano] Oh, sorry.
I was thinking about non-American players.
[Tim] Well, then, Opelka, if you said
a big server, has he beaten him?
[Mark] He got him in Brisbane in '24.
Sam Querrey got him a couple of times.
The other one you won't get
was right at the start
of his… at his odyssey down in Australia,
actually back in 2006.
-Paul Goldstein got him, first round.
-[Tim] Wow.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Tim] Oh.
-[Mark] Oh, no.
Let's hope Taylor's okay.
Thankfully, that's a good outcome.
Not a good outcome for him
in terms of the point.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Interesting choice of shot there
between the legs at the back of the court.
And then, unfortunately for Fritz,
just caught his left ankle.
Had a grin on his face and the thumbs up
was a relief for us all.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[Mark] Nice recovery.
[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[Mark] A couple of big first serves
allows him to pull up alongside Novak
at two apiece in this opening set.
Yeah, one of the most… I mean,
he's got a career of incredible stats,
Novak, but from Eastbourne, 2017,
to that loss against Opelka
in Brisbane in 2024,
he went 34-0 against Americans.
-[Tim laughing]
-[Mark] I'm sure it wasn't personal.
[line umpire] Out!
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] That's when the green light
goes on for somebody like Taylor,
when he gets a couple of ba*ls like that,
to just load up on the forehand side.
And Novak's going to have
to be a little careful
he doesn't give that too often.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] Just vintage Djokovic,
look at the precision
in terms of where he put that ball
at the other end.
Wasn't looking for power.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Tim] I think
that's the right play from Fritz.
He's trying to get on top
of that second serve
before it gets too big.
We've seen how the kick
really can rear up.
Just like to execute that return better.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] Calmly done.
Very assured third service hold
for Novak in this opening set.
Does give us a quick chance
to drop outside.
Laura Robson's in the fan village.
Well, the fan zone here at the ANB Arena
has been buzzing all week
with spectators getting the chance
to see the likes of Jannik Sinner,
and Carlos Alcaraz
for perhaps the first time live.
So the atmosphere outside the stadium
has been electric.
Loads of food and drink offerings,
loads of mini tennis games
for them to play.
Maybe show off some of the skills
that they've seen on the court this week.
[Mark] Yeah, this is Riyadh Season
for a sixth time
just in the background there,
you can see Boulevard World.
That is just a little walk
from where we are right now.
Themed entertainment zone over there.
That was actually opened up
in November of 2022.
It's had over
six million visitors already.
Twenty-two cultural zones over there,
you can go and see
the Great Wall of China
if you want, some things from Japan,
and there's going to be
an even greater expansion
as Riyadh Season continues
to develop and grow.
The ANB Arena, and Taylor Fritz
is at two-three in this first set.
[line umpire] Out!
[Feliciano] What a good return
from Novak Djokovic now.
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Feliciano] Hitting the ball so deep,
surprising his opponent.
I don't think Taylor
was expecting such a great return.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Looks like he's shuffling up
towards the baseline here, Feli.
Started the match very deep,
as you pointed out.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Mark] You get the sense early on here
that Djokovic's backhand
down the line is going
to be kind of a crucial play here
to get out of that sort of situation
where Taylor's hanging around
waiting to pull his forehand.
[Tim] Yeah, just a little bit too central
with the backhand.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] It's the one-two punch
for most players, but certainly for Fritz.
Big serve, get round,
get the forehand into play.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] I wonder whether
he was a little disappointed
with the approach shot
and actually forgot about the volley
coming up after it.
[Tim] It's no doubt an area of the game
that he's working hard to improve,
but that volley won't have
done his confidence any good.
[line umpire] Fault.
Hey!
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[Tim] He's faring it, isn't he, Djokovic?
I mean, on that occasion,
trying to go a long way back,
but poor execution.
[Feliciano] Actually, the first time
he's been far back on that side.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Feliciano] He's been doing it
on the other side of the court,
but not on the deuce side.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[inaudible]
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[Mark] One extra shot.
-[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Taylor puts the overhead away.
[chair umpire] Three games all.
[Mark] So many things
to go through Novak's career
and kind of talk about in terms
of just the achievements that he's had.
I just wonder which ones you guys
think are the most impressive.
Four times he's won three Slams in a year.
Made all four Slam finals
in 2015, '21 and in '23.
[Tim] Yeah, it's just… take your pick.
[Feliciano] I have another one.
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[Feliciano] To win every single tournament
in the world almost two times.
All the Masters 1000s
he's won two times,
of course, the Grand Slams two times.
That's, for me, probably
the most incredible record
because some tournaments suit you,
some others don't.
So to win every single tournament twice,
at least, for me,
this is the most impressive one.
I don't know about you guys.
[Tim] When he beat me
in Rotterdam when he was 14…
[Mark] He actually talked
about that this week,
about how that was
the pivot point in his career.
-[Tim] That felt the same for me.
-[Feliciano] Turning point.
[laughing]
[Mark] 2015, of course, there were
three Slam titles, all four finals.
Actually, only lost once
before a final that particular year.
That was to Karlovic,
who you brought up earlier,
right at the start of the season.
Lost in the quarters.
Every other tournament
that season, he made the final.
[Feliciano] Holds so many records,
so it's tough to pick one.
[Mark] Oh, he's misjudged that.
But maybe in terms
of consistency, this one,
I'll toss it into the mix finally.
Made the semifinals in 23
out of 24 majors from Wimbledon in 2010
to the French Open in 2016.
[Tim] It's just phenomenal that,
you know,
you're not even having an injury
in that time or a bad day at the office.
-Oof.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Great early strike there
from Fritz.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Tim] Cutting down the angle,
he doesn't move across,
he moves slightly forward
to get this early up on the baseline.
[Mark] And a great job
of capitalizing on the shot before.
Yeah, we look at the last one
and sort of talk about it,
but it was actually the shot
before the opportunity.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] I have a question for you guys
regarding records in tennis.
Is the most incredible record
the one Rafa holds?
[Mark] At Roland-Garros?
[Feliciano] Winning 14 times,
the French Open.
[Mark] I mean, it's an incredible record.
There's no doubt about that.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Tim] Is there any other record
that is less likely to be beaten?
I can't believe it.
So I would go with that.
-Fourteen.
-[Feliciano] Fourteen times.
One tournament… [chuckling]
…it's already incredible.
-But one Grand Slam…
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-40.
[Mark] Taylor's put the pressure on.
He's kind of condensed the space
that Novak has a chance to work with
and also the time available to Djokovic.
And he has got his reward here
with a break point.
[line umpire] Fault!
[line umpire] Out.
[Mark] Oh, that's unlucky. What a point.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Tim] Such good hitting from both men,
corner to corner.
Djokovic using the backhand line,
then the short course.
That was the one that Fritz…
it was a point-ending shot.
It's going to be a winner or an error.
[Mark] Taylor went early.
[Feliciano] Good anticipation there
from the American.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[crowd members shouting indistinctly]
[male crowd member]
Let's go, Novak, let's go!
[line umpire] Out!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] He'll be disappointed
with that, Fritz.
The previous break point
he had to take the forehand
on down the line, but…
doesn't miss too many
of those backhands in the rally.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Absolutely the right strategy again
from the American.
-And ex*cuted it to perfection.
-[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[Tim] A little short on the second serve
there from Djokovic,
but absolutely punished by Fritz.
Another break point opportunity.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[Tim groans]
[Feliciano] And Djokovic's
raising his level when it's needed.
[Tim] Staying aggressive.
[Feliciano] Three times
in this game already.
I think break point's safe.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Couple of corners being hit
beautifully in the service box
-by Djokovic.
-[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
[Mark] Forehand doesn't get as much credit
as perhaps it should do.
The amount of times that he changed it
down in Australia
to contend with different conditions
when it was faster
and how early he would go line
to take advantage of it.
It's the spear, the backhand has more
often been the shield for him
as he manages to survive the siege
that Fritz had on his serve
to lead four-three.
And it's been
the return of serve for Novak,
at the moment, has just been perhaps
not exactly where he would like it to be.
And he's been…
Tim, wandering around the court
and certainly heading a little bit deeper
than you did in your day.
[Tim laughing] Yeah, absolutely.
Me getting that far behind the baseline
was going to be bad news.
But no, I think it shows
that it's not necessarily
the easiest conditions
when the ball is bouncing around,
the air is a little bit thin.
But Djokovic is…
if anyone's going to find a solution,
it's going to be Djokovic.
And he's come through
that vital seventh game.
I wonder whether Fritz is sitting
at the change of ends thinking,
"Here we go again."
[Mark] It's been one big change,
isn't it, over the last few years?
It's just the variety
that players are bringing in now
in terms of how deep they're willing
to go back behind the base.
And obviously, it puts a bit
more pressure on you
to find length from a far deeper position.
But then you've obviously got a server
that perhaps doesn't feel the necessity
to hit it that hard because
you're not going to get the benefit.
[Tim] No, obviously when they're standing
that far back to return,
it's much, much harder to serve aces
because they've got more time to react.
But then, the other option there
is the serve and volley.
[Feliciano] They leave the court open.
[Tim] Yes, and with that much time
for the ball to travel on serve,
it gives you an opportunity
to move forward.
[Mark] Incidentally, that is claimed to be
the biggest man-made lagoon in the world.
Twelve hectares' worth of water there.
The sphere that you can go inside
and watch some entertainment.
[Feliciano] I think Rafa was
the first player standing so far back.
I think he was the one influencing
other players to stay there,
like Daniil, for example, Medvedev.
Another player who stands far back
from the baseline to return.
[Mark] That's the one thing
that obviously, by standing up,
you offer up to the server,
especially to somebody
as good as Taylor, is your body.
If you're far back,
you're never going to get hit
with that type of delivery.
[Tim] Yeah.
[line umpire] Fault!
[chair umpire] Game, Fritz.
[Mark] Once again with Novak
crowding the baseline,
he's gone pretty much into the body
to try and sort of tuck him up.
[Tim] Yeah, quick hold
with those new ba*ls
and now perhaps another opportunity
to Fritz to put the pressure on Djokovic.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] Not often you see Fritz go
with the slice, but he did there.
That was a nice defensive guide
from him to the baseline of Djokovic
just to keep things neutral.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] Again, another great
second serve from Novak down the T.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Feliciano] He's been very aggressive
on the second serve at times
throughout his career, Novak.
[Mark] Well, it was a big change.
When he dug into the data,
he noticed he was getting hurt
on the ad side
by putting the 90 mile an hour,
So that was when he started cracking out
the triple-digit second serve.
He didn't just do it on the ad side.
He did it on the deuce side.
The amount of times he pulled it out
on a break point
-and never missed was extraordinary.
-[Feliciano] Unbelievable.
[line umpire] Out!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Mark] So you got to be
a little careful that you don't just
coax the ball out wide there.
You do open up the angles
for Djokovic to try and exploit.
Couldn't find the target
with that particular forehand,
but he won't miss that often.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Worked his way
into the rally, Fritz.
-He got the shot he was looking for.
-[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[Mark] His physio. Charlie Gomez there,
his coach that's looking after him.
Mark Madden as well,
who's his business advisor, all in town.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] A fair few engagements
this week, Novak.
-[Feliciano] Wow. It's bouncing so high.
-[chair umpire] Game, Djokovic.
[Mark] A little trampoline effect
in that service box at times.
[chair umpire] Djokovic leads,
five games to four.
[Mark] Djokovic the first to five.
Laura, courtside, I believe.
Is that where you are at the moment?
You've been wandering around everywhere
in this ANB Arena.
[Laura] I'm just getting my step count up.
But no, at the moment,
I'm tucked just behind the towel boxes,
Novak Djokovic's.
And yeah, as you guys have been saying,
the court is so bouncy.
And the second serves in particular,
they're both going
for the kick out wide on the ad side.
It's so tough to know what to do
with your positioning
for both players right now.
We see the changes that Novak Djokovic
is trying to make.
But then, as you guys have been seeing,
it's so then easy to go fast body.
So, I think it's a challenging court
as a returner.
But from the baseline, Taylor Fritz
trying to paint lines. [chuckles]
Every other shot, it feels like
he's trying to hit the baseline.
More often than not,
paying off at the moment.
But just a couple of these tight moments
where it's gone deuce
-and it feels like he's…
-[chair umpire] Time.
[Laura] …maybe playing
a little too close to the sun
but no, really entertaining
first set so far.
I have to say the crowd is very much
team Novak Djokovic tonight.
[Mark] Yeah, he is a big
fan favorite here, Laura.
as you say, Novak,
he is certainly uber popular
in this part of the world,
as he is in most parts of the world.
Everyone understanding
what he has sacrificed
to become the greatest
Slam champion statistically.
And can Taylor just keep him
at bay in these crucial last few games
of this opening set?
[Mark] That could be
a little bit of scar tissue
from the 11 previous losses.
[Tim chuckles softly] Yeah, absolutely.
Felt like Fritz has had the upper hand,
but now, a little bit of added
scoreboard pressure.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Novak helped out there
by the original net flick on Netflix.
[Tim] You've got such a good view
of the anticipation.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
-[Tim] He just covers the cross-court.
[Feliciano] I was going to say the same.
[Tim] And once Fritz was in that position,
he was in trouble.
[Feliciano] He knew he was going
to go cross-court with his backhand.
I think he's the number one player
at guessing, anticipating Novak,
because his physicality is amazing,
but I don't think he's the fastest guy.
He anticipates… incredibly.
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[Feliciano] It's not as expl*sive
as Carlos or Rafa, for example,
but he gets there all the time.
He reads the game very well.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Tim] Standing in tight to the baseline
on that second serve return.
Getting the depth, getting the mistake.
Just two points from this first set.
[Mark chuckles]
It's good job he's got a reverse gear.
He popped back quickly to the baseline,
but Novak, once again,
just sort of with a sixth sense
of where Fritz is going to hit the ball.
[Feliciano chuckles]
[Tim] It's then easy
to start second guessing yourself
and questioning your own shot selection.
[line umpire] Fault.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] Did the fact
that Djokovic went back
on the ad side this time
just cause Fritz to overthink?
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
[Tim] Could be an expensive couple
of double faults.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Now, this may not be the biggest
second serve that he's ever hit,
considering he's served
three doubles already.
Djokovic with a chance here at set point.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Well, he had nothing to work
with because that ball was not traveling
by the time it got to him.
[Tim] A hundred and twenty-five
kilometers an hour
on that second serve, but…
[Feliciano] I've been surprised
by the speed of this ball.
[Tim] Surprised by that unforced error.
[Feliciano chuckles]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
[Tim] It goes to show that the tension
can affect even the very best.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] Not good enough,
the down the line, backhand.
Gives his opponent
the opportunity to hit it.
Unbelievable forehand cross-court.
If you go watch the line,
you have to be very aggressive.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[Mark] Suboptimal service game for Fritz,
but he may just survive here.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Tim] It's the anticipation again.
There was no split step from Djokovic.
He just went straight across the baseline
into the forehand side,
exactly where Fritz went.
[Mark] No mistake with that one.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[Tim] Two hundred and eighteen
kilometers an hour on serve.
No, holding back.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] Novak alert to every possibility.
What a massive change that speed was
on the second serve, and direction,
compared to the previous one
that he hit when he was down break point.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
[Mark] One of the best points
that he's played.
Timed the backhand out
wide beautifully, Djokovic.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] Take me out of trouble.
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
-[Feliciano chuckles] Fritz to serve.
Again.
[Tim] Longest game of the match,
certainly the most important.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Tim] Two hundred and twenty-two
kilometers an hour.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] Ten minutes already.
Hard work for Wolfgang's man
down the other end of the court.
[line umpire] Out.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
-Game, Fritz.
-[crowd cheering]
[Mark] And it is the serve that rescues
the situation for Taylor Fritz.
It was a serve that got him
into trouble with those double faults.
And he'll take a little moment here
just to be thankful
that he's managed to get to five apiece.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Love-15.
-[Mark] Smokes that, Fritz.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
Ball, please. ba*ls, please.
Yeah, thank you.
[Mark] Makes it seem counterintuitive
at times, doesn't it,
with, like,
servers against somebody like Taylor,
that they go into the forehand side
rather than the backhand
because that's where obviously
the majority of the winners
are going to come off the strings
of the American,
but on the return at times
it can just drop a little bit short
in the court because of the spin on it.
Just tougher to get your racket face
in the right place.
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[Tim] And I think especially so for Fritz
with that extreme forehand grip.
[Mark] See Novak venture in behind
the serve for a couple of games now.
I wonder whether he's gonna
think about doing that.
The forehand has been
a little erratic by his high standards.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] He's introduced it to the line.
It looked like it might drift wide.
And this set may drift away
from Djokovic here
if Fritz can take the next point.
[Tim] He gets up well here to the net cord
and then plays the drop shot.
Djokovic responds.
That's a good forehand volley.
[Mark] Turn this set
on his head here, potentially.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] He got him there, huh?
[Tim] Anything gone to the backhand
of Djokovic was a winner.
We talked about Djokovic's anticipation.
He was going the other way.
[crowd chanting, applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[Tim] Wrong shot and poor execution.
Five-all deuce.
[Feliciano] Poor shot selection,
poor execution. Both things.
He was so far back from the baseline
to hit the drop shot.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Tim] Far better execution
on that backhand.
[Feliciano chuckles]
[Tim] Close to the line, down the line.
[Djokovic groans]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Fritz.
[Tim] Time and again Djokovic going
into the forehand side.
And the Fritz return…
the break point to save.
[Mark] His Excellency has arrived.
Of course, this Riyadh Season
is the brainchild of His Excellency.
[crowd applauding]
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Feliciano] How good he is at delivering
at the crucial moments, huh?
[line umpire] Out.
[Mark] It looked like
he just lost his whereabouts
on the court there, Djokovic,
he was just sort of strolling back
as though the lob was going
to go out from Fritz.
Never looked like it was going to go out.
But that was the difference-maker,
that DNA, as you say, Feli, in the US Open
in terms of break points saved by Novak,
Of course, Fritz had more chances
to break Djokovic
than Djokovic did the American,
but he still came out
on the wrong side of the scoreboard,
maybe not tonight
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] That would have been more in
if it was a deuce side serve
than an ad side.
[commentators chuckling]
[Mark] I don't know which bit of felt
it caught. Look at that.
[Feliciano] Unbelievable.
Right in the corner.
[Mark] As you were saying,
does seem to know when to deliver.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Majority of times he's gone
inside out with that forehand.
He has just tucked that one inside in
and Fritz thinking that the same thing
was going to happen again
was heading into his backhand side.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Forehand doing the heavy lifting.
-Thunderous hitting from Fritz.
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
[line umpire] Out!
[Mark] Novak hasn't employed
the drop shot at all today.
Kind of feel as though that's something
that's just to pull Taylor
closer to the baseline
that when he does get one deep
it's perhaps just hustling
on to the American.
Seen how effective it has been
in these conditions when you hit it well.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] We talked
about the big second serve.
We haven't seen it too often tonight, but…
slipped that one
in at 192 kilometers an hour.
Backed it up
with the backhand down the line.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
-[groans]
-[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
-Whoo!
[Feliciano] Good intention there
from Djokovic aiming for the line.
He was running out of gas on his legs.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Couple of games combined
that are getting us close
to half an hour's worth of play
as we get ever closer to the hour mark
in this opening set.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] And he'll be thankful
that that arrow hit its target.
So good again from Fritz.
Djokovic had the upper hand
in the early part of that rally.
[Tim] And you'd think Fritz is looking up
the other end of the court,
seeing his opponent fatiguing.
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Djokovic.
[Feliciano] It is a never-ending story,
Mark. [chuckles] Again and again…
Djokovic refuses to give up.
-[Mark] Refuses to miss the first serve.
-[Feliciano chuckles]
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Oh, it's caught something
and he cannot believe it.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] Just underneath
the jumbotron there.
Little netting you can see
and it's just waving as Djokovic
will be disappointed
with that first volley, surely.
[Tim] Yeah, should have closed in
and just punched it to the open court.
Fritz did well to get back in the rally
and here we see… the defensive lob.
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[Mark] He wasn't going
to come away with that point.
Didn't hit his target with his serve
and then certainly didn't hit it
with the approach on the backhand side.
[Feliciano] That's too central again.
I think he was aiming for the line,
but he didn't hit the ball very clean.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Tim] Will he go big
on this second serve again?
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] That's the thing
about playing tennis, isn't it?
And everyone talks about it being
a chess match at times.
He's done enough
of the quick second serves
that Taylor had to be respectful
that it could be coming.
So, did have the luxury
of putting the slow kicker in.
And Taylor wasn't going to run
around it and crush a forehand.
-[Fritz] No!
-[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage…
[Feliciano] How many break points missed?
Eight.
[Tim] That's quite a few.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh.
It's big a season down here.
Riyadh Season now.
Sixth time it's been on.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Game, Djokovic.
[Mark] Hard work, a lot of endeavor…
-[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Six games to five.
[Mark] …and a fair bit of adversity
to overcome
in that one game
which lasted 16 minutes on its own.
[crowd cheers]
[cheers]
[cheers building]
[Mark] He's orchestrated
many tennis matches over his life,
and this time it's the crowd.
He was going to be hoping
that that first one would have gone over,
but the backhand reply had so much depth
that it enabled him
to get on the front foot,
the forehand with enough velocity.
And that is a man that is relieved.
Actually never lost
the opening set against Taylor
in all of their previous 11 meetings.
And Taylor was talking
about how important the start was,
even earlier in a set,
against somebody else
that he'd never beaten at Laver Cup,
when he had always got broken early
against Alcaraz,
managing to hang on to his opening
service game for the first time there.
That worked out pretty nicely
for the American after that.
And it's all smiles for Novak
after 11 games in this opening set.
Although it could have been
marginally better,
of course, set points have come and gone.
[chair umpire] Time.
[Mark] But he is reveling
in the atmosphere here in Riyadh.
[Tim] Yeah, Fritz has got
to put that disappointment behind him.
Another strong service game and try
and get into this first set tiebreak.
[Mark] Novak, who's actually qualified
for the ATP finals for the 18th time.
That's exactly the same number as Federer.
Federer played it 17.
Novak deciding whether to play it or not.
It will be interesting to see.
So far he has had 16 appearances
at the year-end champs.
[line umpire] Out.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Mark] It's starting to feel like
a big set from a physical standpoint
for Djokovic to win.
He could also just take his foot
off the gas a little bit in the second
if he got behind early and sort
of try and recover for the third.
[line umpire] Fault.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Mark] He's a man, Taylor Fritz,
that's come bearing gifts
in the last couple of service games
with these double faults.
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Mark] Always in hindsight,
seems like you can say,
"Pick the right shot,"
but is it better more often
than not to go down the line
when you run in off a drop shot
if somebody's at the net
so you have a chance
of maybe getting the stab
on the cross-court reply?
[Tim] If you go cross-court
you've gotta make sure
-that you are offensive after the shot…
-[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] You've got to win
the point outright
because they just put string on it,
you've just left the entire court open.
[crowd applauding]
[Mark] A ten-minute endeavor for Fritz
that time on serve.
He is the second man
to get to six in this opening set.
Another stat that he would like
to chase tonight,
apart from the obviously big one,
is the fact that he's never won
a breaker against Novak.
-[Tim] What is it, 6-0?
-[Mark] It is.
[Feliciano] Six tiebreaks they played?
That's not so much,
considering they played 11 times.
[Tim] That's how dominant
Djokovic has been.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Mark] Oh, in the air, it looked great.
Just coming up a little bit short
for Fritz but a good idea.
Kuznetsova, former world number two,
won a couple of majors in her time
is actually on the ballot
for the Hall of Fame,
for the induction into the Hall of Fame
in Newport, Rhode Island.
French Open and US Open
are sitting in her trophy cabinets.
Say "cabinets" because she won
throughout the course of her career.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] One-all.
[Tim] Makes me wonder
about the previous point
whether that was the right shot
to try the drop shot
when you've got a forehand like this.
The big moments you wanna back yourself
with your best shots.
[Mark] Prakash asking you early on
whether Novak's gonna go
into lockdown mode
did feel as though
that was gonna be the situation there
from where he was trying
to play that point from.
[Tim] There it is again.
[Feliciano] He should be aware
of how important it is
for him to win the first set.
To get this set under his belt,
considering how long this set has been.
[Tim] Yeah, even though
Djokovic has the 11-zero head-to-head,
he's definitely looking
more fatigued than Fritz.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Three-one, Fritz.
[Tim] That was another example, I think,
of Djokovic just not quite as sharp
with his movement.
It was the right play to come forward,
but only getting
to the service line for the volley.
First mini break for Fritz.
-Oh!
-[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] Great response
from Djokovic there.
-That wasn't an easy shot at all.
-[chair umpire] Three-two, Fritz.
[line umpire] Fault!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] What a response.
Absolutely world class.
[chair umpire] Three-all.
[Tim] Yeah. Fully committed
to this second serve return.
Getting the forehand into play,
but from way behind the baseline,
outside the doubles line.
Able to generate the power for the winner.
An hour and 11 minutes…
for this first set so far.
[crowd members chanting]
Let's go, Novak. Let's go.
[Mark] It's gone cross-court again.
And he applauds his opponent's good play,
but Fritz certainly had left
the avenue down the line…
-[chair umpire] Four-three, Fritz.
-…a little bit open, potentially.
[Tim] Djokovic having to cover
a lot of court,
a long way behind the baseline.
Getting up well for that.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Four-all.
[Mark] If at first you don't succeed,
try again,
and Fritz this time
produces an absolute gem.
It's interesting to watch
Taylor move off the ball
when he's going cross-court as well.
He's letting up on the baseline,
trying to quickly get onto the ball
that he thinks is coming
cross-court from Novak.
[Tim] There's some great ball striking,
and when it comes at you fast,
it's not always easy to take the pace off.
Forehand speeds increasing
from both players.
[crowd applauding]
[line umpire] Fault!
-[Tim] Great strike.
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Six-four, Fritz.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] This is turning
into Taylor Fritz's evening.
Never taken a tiebreaker off Novak
in six previous attempts,
and has never beaten the 24-time champ
in his previous 11 head-to-heads.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] It was Djokovic
with the first chances to take this set
in the tenth game of the opener,
but it is Fritz that comes away with it.
And what is happening here?
-[Feliciano] Wow.
-[Mark] Wow.
Novak Djokovic,
after dropping the opening set,
has decided that physically
he's incapable to continue.
And that will go down
as a win for Taylor Fritz,
who has taken the tiebreaker.
But somewhat surprisingly,
it has to be said, Tim,
that Novak has decided to stop, sadly.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely. I mean,
he was having to work incredibly hard
in the hour and 15 minutes
that they were on the court.
But that's certainly taken us by surprise.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] By the way,
I've noticed before when he was running
to a drop shot that he was--
That he could be injured,
but I didn't want to say anything,
you know, because sometimes
you say something and then--
[announcer] …Taylor Fritz
and Novak Djokovic.
[crowd cheering]
-[inaudible]
-[crowd chanting indistinctly]
So, Novak, it wasn't possible to continue,
that was an hour and a quarter
of tremendous entertainment.
How are you doing?
[chuckles] Not too great,
I want to apologize to everybody.
Sorry, guys, I…
-[crowd cheering]
-…I'm sorry…
we couldn't see the second set and--
But credit to Taylor,
I mean we had some incredible games
towards the end of that set
and it's one of the longest sets
I ever played to be honest.
So anyway, it was an amazing visit
to Riyadh for me.
Once again, I wanna thank everybody
for really welcoming me…
[crowd cheering]
[Djokovic] …welcoming me here.
This is third time
that I'm here in three years,
and hopefully,
if I keep on going next year,
-I'll be back, if you guys want me here.
-[crowd cheering]
[Andrew] What are the plans
for the rest of the year now, Novak?
Just-- Well, now it's rest
and really addressing
some of the issues I have with my body.
And then hopefully playing
the last couple of tournaments
of the season. Let's see.
-[Andrew] Yeah.
-Thank you.
[Andrew] It's good to see you.
Novak Djokovic.
[crowd cheering]
[Andrew] Taylor congratulations.
It's a shame it had to end that way.
But what a brutal set that was.
-[crowd cheering]
-Yeah, that was really physical.
You know what happens as you get
into those really long, long games
and the ba*ls start to just wear out
and get so huge to the point
where-- No, it's so hard
to get a free point
on the serve, hit a winner.
So then it just… it's almost like
playing the long points,
playing the long games.
It makes everything just slower, longer.
So yeah, it's just such a tough set.
And at the end of it, like I said,
conditions just got so slow.
We're just playing long rallies
back-to-back-to-back,
just having to fight for every point.
So it's brutal.
[Andrew] He's 11 years older than you.
You will have watched him growing up,
winning absolutely everything.
Most people would say,
"He's the finest player in the world."
It's quite something, is it not,
to stand on a tennis court
opposite a guy like Novak Djokovic.
Tell people what it's like
to play the great man.
Yeah, it's amazing.
It's crazy, all these guys
that I grew up watching
just dominate tennis,
and now I get the chance
to play with them,
and it's not like this is,
I guess, anything new.
Novak's been beating me
for a very long time.
It's been probably
at least the last eight years, so…
it's always a pleasure to share the court
with the best players of all time.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] Well, that's very well said
and very gracious of you.
And Taylor, what about your plans
for the year now?
You've had some great matches here,
you're very strong,
you're very fit, you're very consistent.
You've got a great coach over there.
What are you hoping for…
for the remainder of the year?
You know, just finish the year strong.
It's been a really long year,
so it's never easy
this late into the season
to feel fresh or feel, you know,
healthy, ready to play all the time.
But you know, final push,
I got just a couple more weeks.
I want to finish the year strong,
play some good tennis in Basel,
Paris, you know, World Tour finals.
And there's still a lot of stuff
I want to work on too.
[Andrew] And who do you think
is gonna win,
Sinner or Alcaraz, next match?
Don't do that to me. Don't do that to me.
But, I mean, it's really tough to say.
But what I will say is yesterday,
or the other day,
when I played Carlos, that felt like…
very, very tough. [chuckles]
You know, I definitely wanna see…
I definitely wanna see
what Sinner does to deal with that,
because I didn't have the answers.
[Andrew] Okay. Well, that is coming up.
But in the meantime,
Taylor, it's been great
to see you here in Riyadh.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the U.S. number one, Taylor Fritz.
[crowd cheering]
And Taylor is gonna hit
some tennis ba*ls up into the crowd
after he's signed them. So if you want
these nice brand-new tennis ba*ls,
do make a bit of a noise,
if you will, here at the ANB Arena.
[crowd cheering]
[Prakash] Well, it was a surprise ending
to that match, but certainly high quality,
high intensity all the way
through that first set.
[crowd cheering]
[Prakash] A bit over an hour.
Credit to the American for doing
what he needed to do,
but Laura did you see anything
at any point during that set,
Feli alluded to it,
but did you see anything
with Novak's sort of movement
at any point in that set.
[Laura] It certainly looked like
he was physically fading
towards the end of the set.
We saw him stretching out
his back and his hip,
it looked like a little bit
towards the end of the set.
But it was so physical,
as Taylor just mentioned.
You know, he was trying to extend points.
That was where he pulled up a little.
And you never really know
when something like that happens,
how bad it is in the moment.
You try and keep playing and make sure
that you're keeping it loose as you go.
But yeah, it just felt like physically
he wasn't gonna be able
to complete the match.
But what a first set we had.
[Prakash] What a tremendous first set.
They were using
every single corner of the court.
We saw some spectacular rallies
and a lot of aggression from both players.
I did like what I saw from Taylor Fritz.
It seemed like he came out
with very strong intention
and one way or another,
he was gonna do what he set out to do.
[Laura] At the start of the set,
it certainly looked like
Fritz had the more pace
from the back of the court.
And then all of a sudden,
we saw Djokovic try and keep up with him
and add some power
to his forehand in particular.
Both of them were ripping it
in the cross-court rally.
But then we saw Djokovic come forward,
and that was maybe
when he started to feel a little bit
more physically drained,
just coming to the net more often
than you might expect on sometimes the…
more interesting choice of shots,
but maybe you can give us
a little bit more of a debrief
of what happened out there.
Yeah, I mean it's… it got physical.
I think the conditions are fast here
but you play some of those
really long games
like we played at the end
of the second, almost…
I mean right after ball change,
to where the ba*ls just get so worn out
and slow, now it's like no one can get
a free point on anything.
It's so hard to hit a winner
that's why I started drop-shotting
'cause I didn't feel like
I could inject enough pace
into the ball to really hurt him
or put the ball away.
So it just… those long games
make… just-- It's so slow.
And we play all these,
you know, really long physical points.
[Laura] Were you trying
to make it more physical?
-Did you see him stretching at all?
-[Fritz] Yeah, I never know…
I never know, if it's…
like how tired he actually is,
if he's doing it
and he feels like--
I-- It's just tough to tell, like,
'cause I feel like he can do that
and then just will out a point,
the next point, and like, so it's--
I really didn't wanna get away
from being aggressive
'cause that's what I thought
I was doing well.
I think it's easy to see
my opponents getting a bit more tired.
I don't pull the trigger as much.
I try to play a bit safer.
I didn't wanna do that,
but I definitely wanted
to keep moving the ball.
[Prakash] Taylor, I feel like
this was the first breaker
that you were able
to get through over him.
What did you tell yourself
going into that breaker?
It seemed like your intent was very clear.
Yeah, I mean, like I said,
the conditions were so slow.
I told myself I wanted to keep changing.
I didn't wanna be predictable.
I felt like he could maybe hurt me
with his forehand
with how big the ba*ls were.
But I felt like if I changed line
of the backhand aggressively,
at the very least, I didn't think
I was going to get hurt.
So I wanted to keep going to that.
I knew he was gonna look
to be aggressive.
So I was just trying to not give him
the ba*ls to set up on and attack me.
I was really just trying
to be a bit more unpredictable.
[Prakash] I'll tell you what,
there was about an hour and 15
of brilliant, brilliant tennis out there.
You closed out
really strong here at Riyadh.
It was beautiful to see you here.
Keep this tennis going
-the rest of the year.
-Thank you.
Taylor Fritz, getting it done,
ladies and gentlemen.
Places third over here
at the Six Kings Slam.
Let's take a look
at what we have coming up next.
Carlos Alcaraz.
Jannik Sinner.
-[Alcaraz] World number one.
-[upbeat music playing]
[Sinner] Wimbledon champion.
[Mark] Unbelievable.
US Open champion.
[Mark] How has he turned that around?
[Sinner] Australian Open champion.
Eight titles this year.
[Sinner] Davis Cup winner.
Six Grand Slams.
Defending World Finals champion.
[both] I want to be king.
[music concludes]
I tell you what,
if that doesn't give you goosebumps,
I don't know what does.
Let's have a quick word,
let's hear what both of our players
have to say, and let's dig in.
[Sinner] Work with him again,
and we all hope for a great match.
One year now has passed.
He's a different player.
I'm a different player too.
So, yeah, let's see what's coming.
Yeah, same final.
I think we both are
in a really good shape.
Hopefully, it's going
to be different than last year.
[dramatic music playing]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Alcaraz] It's going to be
really difficult to play, fun to watch.
It's going to be a great level of tennis.
[Mark] The world's best, simply too good.
Alcaraz will be here
for the final in Saudi Arabia.
Well, I just played really good,
to be honest.
I think every aspect of my game,
I did it perfectly.
Just not too many mistakes,
playing aggressively,
great winners.
Overall, I'm just really happy
with the level that I played,
and hopefully pull off again
the same level in the final.
[Sinner] It was a great performance
from my side, obviously.
We all know Novak and how incredible he is
as a player, as a person,
and it was a huge honor again
for me to share the court with him.
[Alcaraz] Beating Novak is always
a really difficult challenge.
Jannik is playing great tennis,
obviously I know his style,
I know his game.
Yeah, I feel
like we are two different players,
two different persons also,
on and off the court.
We push us to the limit.
He's like a machine.
Not too many mistakes. Uh…
And, uh, I think every aspect of the game,
he does it pretty well.
So that makes it really,
really difficult playing against him.
At the end of the day, it's a show.
And, uh, we try to make this show as good
as we can, then whoever wins, wins.
That's why I'm here,
trying to take the trophy home.
It's going to mean a lot.
Uh… Winning the tournament is going
to be great for me.
[music concludes]
With the history that they keep building
with each and every match,
you can't help but have
the highest expectations every time
they step on the court.
Tim, let me start with you, with Jannik.
He's been improving,
improving different elements
of the game as of late.
I want to talk about his net game.
It seems like he's trying
to find more ways
to be able to be
a bit more dynamic out there.
Yeah, most definitely.
And I think he's very sort of receptive.
He has a great understanding of what,
you know, he really needs
to go away and work on.
And I think that's a reflection
of the great people around him
in the final of the US Open.
I think Alcaraz brought
those extra dimensions to his game.
And there's no doubt
that Sinner has recognized
that he needs
to bring in the different elements.
He's got to be able
to serve a volley occasionally,
use the drop shot,
finish points at the net.
So, you know, I love that
he's so receptive at such a young age,
when he's had so much success,
to still look at areas
where he can improve.
[Prakash] Feli, it seems Carlos is very
unpredictable out on the court.
Sometimes, he's not sure
what he's going to do,
and that's part of his absolute genius.
Jannik, he's very stable.
It seems like he makes
the right decisions all the time.
Do you think it's challenging for him
to try to be
a bit more unpredictable out there?
I think it's fair to say
that both of them,
they have been pushing each other
to the very limits.
I think Carlos has been more, um,
mentally stronger
in the last year and a half
because of how much Sinner
has been pushing him.
And Sinner, on the other hand,
I think he needs more variation
in his game
in order to travel Carlos more,
because so many times they've played,
you know, Carlos has been the, you know,
the shot maker, while Jannik was,
you know, the more, you know,
consistent player on the court.
So I think it's good
that Carlos has been more,
you know, stronger mentally,
and while Sinner was trying
to add different elements
into his game.
I was talking to Simone in New York,
one of his coaches,
and he was saying
that Darren and him,
they want Jannik
to go even more to the net.
He's been doing it more and more,
but they encourage him to do it even more.
But I was just going to say,
you look at the willingness
that he's had mid-season
to change his serve though,
and so few players are even receptive
to that in the first place
because they think,
"Oh, I can't change something mid-season.
I've got to wait till the off-season."
But we've seen him tinker away
even sometimes mid-tournament.
So he has that willingness
and you feel like,
maybe the US Open final was a bit
of a wake-up call
in terms of adding
that variety into his game,
knowing that he has to come forward,
he has to try new things,
and that's the best part
is they're going to keep challenging
each other,
but I absolutely think
that Jannik is capable of it.
It's just new,
it's just something different.
Laura, talk me through the semi-final
where he played against Novak.
He was absolutely exceptional.
We talked about how stable he is,
but he just had a ton of power
all the way through, and in many ways
hit Novak a little bit off the court here.
[Laura] Well, yeah, absolutely.
He did with the serve.
I mean, that was by far
the best part of his game.
He was so unpredictable with it.
He chose when to take the pace off
and when to go for the fast T-serve
that just caught Djokovic off guard time
and time again.
And then he's so comfortable
in the baseline rallies,
um, that it's just tough to know
where to go tactically, isn't it?
There's no obvious weakness
for Jannik Sinner at the moment.
And if you're his opponent,
you're kind of running out of options.
[Tim] And I think with Sinner
arriving here a little bit earlier,
we heard Fritz just talking
about the conditions.
We've got the altitude.
The ba*ls can be very
fast when they're new,
but then they get fluffy
and then they're a lot slower.
And I think the way that he's looked
so comfortable out there is, uh,
you know, it's an ominous sign for Alcaraz
that he wants to come out.
He wants to play tennis on his terms,
to be uber aggressive,
but then still bring
in that variation when he can.
We saw some spectacular tennis
in that semi-final
with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic,
but there was one particular point
at the beginning of the match,
very early on, one-all here, early on,
and Djokovic to serve,
a brilliant rally from both players,
using both ends of the court,
trying to find a little bit of an opening.
Novak with some spectacular defense here.
Sinner at some point finds his way
into the net.
But, Tim, talk us through.
Played some good defense here.
Some pretty good ups there too.
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
I mean, he's a tall man, Sinner.
He's got long arms. He needed it there.
And again, closing the net down well
to finally put the backhand volley away.
And it's those types of points.
It's all well and good,
you know, on the practice court
when you're working
on these different elements.
You need that recognition
on the match court.
And for him to come out on top
in a rally like that
against someone like Djokovic,
I think is gold dust for his confidence.
You're going to say, "Okay."
You know, if I can do it
against one of the best players,
I think it's still important
that he continues to do it
against the lesser players.
So in the biggest matches,
in the biggest moments,
he still has that confidence
to move forward.
For those that are still catching up
on the magnificent story
that Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
have been all the way through this year,
they've played in the last
three Grand Slam finals.
They have really
separated themselves from the pack,
playing seemingly out of another planet,
but Laura, Jannik Sinner served
from a completely different planet
altogether in that previous match.
Uh… You had a chance to sort of step out
on the court with him, didn't you?
I went out there with a camera
and a dream,
uh, and just hoped
for the best, basically, um…
Yeah, as we've been saying, it is so tough
to get a read on where he's going,
how high it bounces up, um…
But I think rather than me explaining it,
I feel like you've got to watch it.
Let's dig in. Let's take a further look.
You got the new model of 2026 already.
Here you go.
Do you want me to serve or no?
Serve, serve, yeah. [pants]
How far back should I go?
Out. [laughs]
-[laughs]
-Sorry. [chuckles]
Even if I know where it's going,
which I actually didn't,
but even if you know where
it's going, it's almost impossible.
Ouch. [chuckles]
[Laura] I can see it's going there,
but I can't do anything about it.
Don't you think the kick
is almost harder here
-because it's so bouncy?
-Yeah, especially on this court.
[Laura] Yeah, we'll blame it on the court.
-You have some excuses on the court.
-[Laura chuckles]
-[Sinner] Here you go.
-[Laura groans]
I've got one. I've got one in the locker.
Go one all-out. First serve.
-First serve?
-[Laura] Yeah, first serve.
[Sinner grunts]
It's tough. It's really tough.
Easy for you. Thank you.
-[Laura] Thank you.
-Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Yeah, I feel like almost
the seconds are tougher though
because for me it's just so much higher
-than what I used to.
-Especially here, yeah. Yeah.
It's a very unique court.
You don't have many situations like this.
[Laura] Did you feel like yesterday
you were hitting more first serves
with a kick than normal?
Uh. No, yesterday I was hitting quite…
-quite flat.
-Quite flat.
Are you finding it easier to come
a bit further forward though?
If you go too much forward,
then the other one is going
to go faster body.
But yeah, kick, or you go very far back.
You have some courts
where it goes like this, you know,
so you can stay also in the middle,
you know, not too close and not too far.
I'm a bit taller than you, so it's…
[Laura] Just a little.
I like that you're adding to my excuses.
It's great. It's making me feel better.
[both chuckle]
I tell you what, he aced you,
he threw some nasty stuff at you,
but then he tried
to make you feel better.
He said, you know,
the courts are pretty rough out there,
I'm a little taller,
but that seemed like a lot of fun.
And I appreciated that.
Yeah, it was just, for me,
so tough with the kick serve out wide.
And to kind of put some perspective in it,
I'm not short, I'm 5'10",
and I mean,
he's a little bit taller, but…
-I could not reach it. And, um…
-[chuckles]
I was actually using
his next year's racket,
which I have to say felt pretty nice,
but it's just so unpredictable.
So you think one moment you're going
to go back and let it drop,
and then the next ball,
we saw in the last match,
you just go fast body,
and it just shows the improvements
-that he's made on that first shot.
-Which one is bouncing higher?
Sinner or…
-Oh…
-Well, I'm very lucky
that I got the chance to be
on court with both of them this week.
-Okay.
-Yeah. Let's play it safe.
-That's a good answer.
-We're sitting on the fence.
Very diplomatic.
-[all chuckle]
-Yeah. Yeah, thank you. Uh…
No, I think they're different.
Because there is that height difference
between the two, and Carlos naturally goes
for sometimes a bit more
of a kick-first serve.
And actually, Sinner mentioned
how much that was bouncing up,
uh, he felt, compared
to some of the other players
because there's so much racket head speed
coming over the top of the ball.
Uh. But yeah, I mean,
they're both good choices, aren't they?
You can't really go wrong.
They've both done
something very interesting here,
which made these minor adjustments
to their serve mid-season
over the last couple of years,
and it's just elevated them
to a different game.
Not easy to do, but extremely well done.
Let's take a good look
at his opponent now for the evening.
Carlos Alcaraz,
who has just had one heck of a season
from the beginning of Monte Carlo
all the way through the end of Beijing.
He's only lost two matches.
He's won virtually everything
where he's stepped out on the court.
And a bit of a new hairdo
in the meanwhile.
It's not slowing him down.
The kid is looking good
while he's doing it.
Laura, let's start with you.
I want each of your thoughts on,
uniquely, what makes him so special?
[Laura] His enjoyment, for me.
I think the fact
that he loves this environment.
He loves any environment
when he's on a tennis court.
And the fact that it never looks
like it's his job.
You know, he just goes out there
and has a great time.
And that's always reflected
in the enjoyment of the crowd,
the enjoyment of his team.
And it just looks like everyone involved
is loving to see him out there.
Yeah, so I hope he never loses that.
But the variety helps as well.
He can hit every shot in the book.
That's it. When you start
to think about all the attributes
that he has to his tennis game,
his serve has improved,
as we talked about,
from the back of the court,
forehand to backhand, so expl*sive.
The movement, getting into position.
But then he has this extra dimension,
which I think is very,
very rare at his age.
I mean, he's still so young.
He loves to come forward.
He can finish the point
of the net with the volley.
But then he also has this incredible feel
for the drop shot.
So, you know,
you never quite know what to expect.
And when, if there is an element
of his game that isn't working,
then he can,
you know, use the other aspects.
And you can see some of these drop shots,
how well he plays them.
[Prakash] He's been having
so much success with it.
He was 12 for 13 drop shots over here.
He said, "You know what?"
"I was feeling good after the first few,
so I just decided to roll with it."
-And that's so much of what he does.
-[Laura laughing]
[Prakash]
He's very much a field player out there.
But another element to the drop shot
is how much power he has.
So, he's able to disguise it, Feli.
[Feliciano] I'd like to mention also his,
you know, mentality lately,
because tennis-wise, I think we all agree
that he's probably the best player,
the best shot maker.
He has every single element in the game.
But I think the fact
that he has improved so much mentally
in the last year and a half,
I think that's what makes him even better.
-Because so far…
-[Laura] Do you mean the concentration?
[Feliciano] Yeah, his concentration.
I think he's been surrounded,
you know, by very good things.
Juan Carlos has been number one
in the world, his family also.
So, it's important to mention that.
[Tim] So, we've talked mentally,
I've talked technically,
and none of us
have mentioned him physically.
-And then when you talk about his speed…
-[Prakash laughing]
…his footwork, I mean, is there anyone
faster on the tour right now?
-[Feliciano] No, I don't think so.
-[Tim] I mean, it's absolutely incredible.
[Laura] I saw a quote from him
the other day that I really loved, though,
where he said, you know,
everyone thinks that I have talent,
but they think that I don't work hard.
And I think that's a really underrated
part of his game because he enjoys it.
You don't see it as, you know,
hard work for him,
but you still have to go out
-on the practice court and…
-He's very professional.
-Yeah, very, very professional.
-Very, very professional.
I think that's
where you would make the comparison
with Federer because Federer
made it look ridiculously easy.
But he said, "Yes, I have to practice
and work incredibly hard
to make it look this easy."
And I think, you know, Alcaraz,
we can put him in the same breath
because he does have so many options.
-He plays with that smile on his face.
-I'm talking about his physicality, Tim.
I mean, the way he has evolved physically
in the last two years or three.
He was a skinny guy
when he started on the tour.
Now, he's very strong,
so he spent a lot of hours in the gym,
and a lot of training, you know,
behind that body.
I would say
all of these things put together.
Another thing I will add is
it's a very contagious feeling
being around him.
It kind of reminds you
of that feeling when you were a kid
and you jump up,
you try to touch the moon,
you don't get it, but you really believe
you can do it again.
He kind of plays with that optimism
all the time,
and it's just extremely contagious.
Well, let's take a look
at the head-to-head now
between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
They've played numerous times,
but it really is Carlos Alcaraz
who has had the victorious edge,
Let's not forget,
Jannik Sinner got him here
in the finals last year
after dropping the first set.
But in the recent meetings,
aside from that great Wimbledon final,
it's been all Carlitos.
Tim, what do you attribute that to?
[Tim]
Yeah, I just think when you actually look
at the five-set matches,
I think they've had three.
Carlos has won that.
They've had a seven-six in the third.
You see the head-to-head.
It's quite one-sided.
When you actually look at the sets played,
I think Alcaraz has won 30 sets
and Sinner has won 24.
So, it just emphasizes
how close it has been in those matches.
But in the biggest
and most important moments,
you feel that Alcaraz
has been able to come out on top,
but, you know,
that wasn't the case here 12 months ago,
so I think Sinner will be looking
to put the record straight.
The special element about this match
is there's no giving it to the opponent
to the opponent in the big moments.
Someone's always
got to go out there and take it.
Feli, early looks here,
but where are you leaning today?
-[laughs]
-What do you think?
I think you're leaning
with your countrymen.
-Yeah. Of course.
-Okay, we got an Alcaraz over here.
-Tim?
-I'm going to go Jannik Sinner,
so we're going to leave it
for Laura to decide.
Oh, you know what? Final decision,
I think I'm going to go with Tim.
I'm going Jannik.
Well, okay. I'm going to go with Carlitos.
I think Sinner
is going to be the king last year.
Alcaraz is going to be the king this year.
Either way,
we're in for one heck of a night.
Let's throw it now to Andrew Castle
for the start of the finals.
…in the city of Riyadh.
To be here is to see growth
and change and positivity.
Thank you so much
for the warmth of your welcome.
And can I offer our thanks to those
who have made this week possible.
Firstly, the custodian
of the holy mosques,
King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
[crowd cheering]
His Royal Highness,
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
And the Six Kings creator and host,
the Chairman of the General
Entertainment Authority,
His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh.
[crowd cheering]
[Andrew] The match is coming soon,
the final, Jannik Sinner
versus Carlos Alcaraz.
If you could now stay in your seats,
that would be appreciated.
["Breaking Me" playing]
♪ And I'll be singing,
la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la ♪
♪ You're breaking me,
la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la ♪
♪ You're breaking me, la-la-la-la,
la-la-la-la, you're breaking me ♪
♪ You can do whatever,
I'll be here forever ♪
♪ Spinning round inside this room ♪
♪ Won't you come on over?
I'm a sucker for ya ♪
♪ Wishing we'll be out here soon ♪
[Prakash] Sorry, tell me.
[music continues]
[Prakash] And a slight delay on grounds,
but we'll have the national anthem
very shortly and…
magnificent final to follow.
[song concludes]
Ladies and gentlemen,
now could I ask you to stand, if able,
for the national anthem
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
[Saudi Arabia anthem playing]
[music concludes]
[crowd cheering]
And so to the final,
the championship match
between the number one
and two players in the world.
Only one can wear the crown.
Will it be Alcaraz or Sinner?
[crowd cheering]
[tense music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[dramatic orchestral music playing]
[electricity crackles]
[swords clashing]
[cards shuffling]
[lightning crackles]
[music crescendos]
[crowd cheering]
[music concludes]
[crowd cheering]
["POWER" playing]
♪ I'm living in that 21st century… ♪
[Andrew] Introducing a 24-year-old Italian
who finished last year
as the world number one.
This year he became the first Italian
to win on the grass of Wimbledon.
He's won four Grand Slams
in the last two years.
Here's your defending Six Kings Champion,
Jannik Sinner!
♪ I'm tripping off the power ♪
♪ 21st-century schizoid man ♪
♪ The system broken
The school's closed, the prison's open… ♪
[song concludes]
["CAFé CON RON" playing]
♪ Por la mañana, café, por la t*rd, ron ♪
♪ Ya estamo en la calle
Sal de tu balcón… ♪
[Andrew] And from Spain,
the youngest man and the first teenager
to reach world number one,
this 22-year-old has won
six of the sport's
major championships already.
This year he won the French Open
in five and a half hours of epic drama,
and he won another US Open.
Welcome the world number one,
Carlos Alcaraz!
♪ Que lo bailen en Lloren
Que lo bailen en Canale' ♪
♪ Hoy voy pa la carretera
Con to's mis anormale… ♪
[song concludes]
[crowd cheering]
-[Prakash] And once again.
-Good to see you again, Prakash.
[chair umpire] Yeah.
You certainly look ready.
You certainly look ready.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[both speaking Spanish]
[in English] Okay,
remember we have video review.
If you have a note-up call or a touch
or something you don't agree with,
we have video review, remember.
Okay, any questions?
Now, for the towels, please take the…
odd numbers,
one, three, five, for the towels.
We have numbers now.
[both speaking Spanish]
-[in English] Would you like to call it?
-All right, you call it.
-Would you like to call it?
-Works with me.
[both speaking Spanish]
[in English] Heads.
-And tails, your call.
-I receive.
[umpire] And we have a photo here, please.
-[crowd cheering]
-[umpire] Thank you.
-[crowd cheering]
-[upbeat music playing]
[Prakash] I feel like we're getting ready
for a heavyweight fight out there,
-the way these two came out.
-[Feliciano chuckling]
[Prakash] You see Carlos sprinting
to the back like Rafa used to do.
It's all electric stuff.
Let's start with Jannik Sinner.
The way that he's been playing all year,
improving throughout,
he's got to be high in confidence,
even though he didn't clip the last major.
[Laura] Yeah. I mean,
how could you not be high confidence
with the level
that he's been putting down?
And, you know… [chuckling]
…I just think we're in for such a treat
with the two best players in the world
who are constantly bringing out
the best in each other.
But in a different format like this,
where you see that actually Jannik Sinner
has been really enjoying himself
on the court this week,
we've seen some smiles from him.
We've seen him kind of laugh
at how good some of his shots have been,
which so often he's in the zone,
and so focused on the next point,
that, yeah, it's nice to see him
appreciate his own greatness.
So, yeah, I'm just excited either way.
I can't wait for this.
The best match
we possibly can watch, you know, nowadays,
Sinner and Alcaraz.
And my only concern
is how are they doing physically,
because even though he hasn't played
for three months, you know,
first stage of the year, he pulled out
twice already since Shanghai,
so I think… at this point of the year,
Carlos is feeling better,
I think, physically,
so he gets to the final stage
of the season in better shape, I think.
In past seasons,
we've seen the other way around.
When Carlos was running out of gas,
you know, throughout the season, you know,
and Turin and those tournaments,
he was not performing at his best,
but this year,
I think he's in better shape.
[Laura]
In some ways, a blessing in disguise
that he wasn't able to play Shanghai
and was able to go home,
because he rolled his ankle
early on in Tokyo,
managed to win the tournament still,
which is always a great sign. [chuckling]
But just knowing
that he had to take some time off,
go home,
make sure he was physically 100%.
And we see the difference
that a couple of days
in your own base can make.
[Feliciano] Yeah, I think he was,
you know, more selective, you know,
where he has to play
and especially after two or three seasons,
you know,
with the experience he's gaining,
you know, he's being more smart
on where to play
and I think
that's probably the key, you know,
for him to be at this stage
of the season physically, 100%.
[Prakash] We saw Carlos' bio,
just 22 years of age.
Jannik Sinner, a little bit older,
sitting at 24,
he has been gradually moving up
with the last few years,
ever since that fall of 2023,
where he just turned
into a completely different player,
went on a huge tear there,
beat Novak Djokovic a couple of times,
and put up Grand Slam after Grand Slam.
It's been a monumental last
couple of years for him.
Laura, we were having a chat
as we were watching
them both up close the other day,
and Jannik, he's tall and slender,
but he's quite built
and he's really improved his physicality
as well.
[Laura] Without a doubt. For me,
that was one of the biggest differences
in that improvement that we saw
over the course of, you know,
the 2023 season towards the end of it.
And then coming into Australia in 2024,
he just looks so much stronger.
And the sharpness that we've seen
in his side-to-side movement.
But just his first step
just looks like it's…
I mean, not quite the same speed
as we see from Alcaraz,
but not too far off, Feli.
[Feliciano] No, not too far away
from the way
Carlos is moving on the court,
especially side to side.
I don't think there's a faster player
on the tour.
I think he's probably the fastest one.
And as Laura just said, you know,
his physicality has been improving,
you know,
significantly in the last three years.
He was one player,
he was the player who used to struggle,
you know, best of five sets.
We all remember
when the matches went longer,
how he used to struggle on that situation.
But now, since he won the first slam,
I think seems to be different now
after that win.
And I mean,
physicality of both players are--
If you could last till the end
of that Roland Garros final,
I think you're doing okay.
-[laughs]
-'Cause I mean, that was just insane.
The breaker at the end
was some of the best quality tennis
five and a half hours in. It was--
Like bouncing back
after the three match points that he lost.
For me, that was the most impressive thing
on Sinner's side in that match.
[Prakash] I'll say, actually,
I think that's one of the best things
we've seen in all of sport,
to be able to have
three championship points in a Grand Slam,
and then bounce back,
be able to win the following Grand Slam,
down a set, mind you, in that final,
exceptional stuff.
We've seen a lot of dynamic play
from Carlos Alcaraz in these meetings.
I think that's what's given him the edge,
using different spins,
using different heights.
Will we see a bit of that
from Jannik Sinner today?
[Laura] We hope.
I don't see why not, yeah.
-A quick bouncy court, why not?
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] I think conditions may sh**t
Sinner a little bit, I think.
Indoors, I think it's better for Sinner,
but so far Carlos
has been showing an incredible
-level everywhere he played.
-[Prakash] It is so difficult--
It is so difficult to pick and choose
a winner here…
-[Feliciano chuckling]
-…but we'll go up to Petch and Tim.
Guys, are we going to see
some dynamic stuff out there today?
[Mark] We hope so, Prakash, no question.
"Some are born great,
some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness thrust upon them."
It took Shakespeare 52 years
to write those words.
Alcaraz, just 19 years
when he became world number one,
and Sinner 22 years
to fulfill that prophecy.
It is the best
that tennis has to offer right now.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Unquestionably, these two have
dominated the courts
of Melbourne and Paris
and London and New York.
And one of these two
is going to reign in the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia tonight.
[indistinct shouting]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-30.
[Tim] Promising start for the Italian.
[Mark] What a scandalously good backhand
that was from Sinner up the line.
[Tim] He felt, if anything,
he was on the defensive,
but changed direction,
found the corner,
dictated with the forehand.
Three points played,
three points won for Jannik Sinner
and three breakpoint opportunities.
[Mark] Let's not forget Alcaraz coming off
the greatest run in terms
of the fewest number of break points
faced at a Grand Slam ever.
Just ten in New York,
broken just the three times.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
[Mark] Sampras holds that record,
broken just twice
on his way to the Wimbledon title
back in '97.
And Alcaraz desperate
to hang on to his opening service game.
That was helpful.
[line umpire] Let.
[line umpire] Let.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
First game.
[Mark]
Couldn't have asked for a better start.
Prediction and opinions
on this final will come
with the usual boilerplate disclaimers,
because in moments like this,
both have the desire,
both have the ability, Tim,
to potentially win this particular final,
and perhaps the start is going
to be a huge part to play.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely.
I think, as you mentioned,
really how little success
people have had against the Alcaraz serve
that is just the ideal start for Sinner
just to settle himself down…
that… early break but now…
he's got to focus on his own deal.
Make sure he backs it up
with a strong service game.
[chair umpire] Jannik Sinner to serve.
[fan] Let's go!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Mark] Nice cold takedown of Djokovic
in the semi-finals from Sinner.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And helped by a huge helping
of those types of serve.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Mark]
On the other side of the net, Fritz…
would have felt as though
perhaps he walked into the wrong classroom
on Thursday when he took on Alcaraz.
He did not have any of the answers
to the questions
that the Spaniard was posing.
Simone Vagnozzi,
who's looking after Sinner
alongside Darren Cahill.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[Tim] Keep an eye on that shot tonight.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Keep an eye on the frequency
that Sinner takes the backhand line.
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] You can see Alcaraz
looking to take the second serve early,
but if you don't get a good strike on it,
then perhaps you're putting yourself
out of position.
-Sensational.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-all.
[Tim] And he got a sense of the speed
of that Alcaraz forehand
when he had time
just ripping it down the line.
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
[Mark] No easing
into the first five minutes of this match.
Full steam ahead.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[crowd cheering,
crowd chanting indistinctly]
[Mark] Carlos Ferro.
Not ever-present.
Teams up with Samuel Lopez.
Both of these two
with a couple of coaches
looking after them these days.
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
-[Tim] And that serve that's been
through a few modifications
over the years is firing beautifully here
in Saudi Arabia.
And there may be a lesson for a lot
of the players out there, of course,
because when Darren Cahill
came on with Sinner and Simone,
it wasn't the most successful first year
that they had together back in 2022.
He started the year at ten,
finished at twelve.
But he believed fairly
that they were the right people
to look after his career.
And so it's proved to be.
[Feliciano] Yeah, I think you have
to give time to the team, you know,
to work on the certain things
that they think you need to work.
And we've seen
many times players, you know,
changing coaches very quickly,
and I don't think this is good.
-You give time for the good work.
-[chair umpire] Begin.
[line umpire] Out.
[chair umpire] Fifty-love.
[Feliciano] Most of the best players
in the history of our sport, you know,
they have long relationships
with their coaches.
-[Tim] Consistency and continuity.
-[Feliciano] Yeah.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] High energy.
Unbelievable entertainment.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Mark] Two great movers out here.
[Tim] And normally
when you get into these little games
on the front of the court,
you'd think
that Alcaraz was going to come out on top,
but a beautiful flicked half volley…
across court from Sinner.
He enjoyed that one himself.
[line umpire] Let.
[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Mark] When he was
at the one-yard line in Paris
with those three championship points--
That was the…
second of the sequence, wasn’t it?
Second-serve return that he just
nudged over the baseline.
[line umpire] Let.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] Of course that wasn't the only time
that he's tasted defeat at the hands
of Alcaraz, having had match point
on the way
to the title in New York in 2022.
For Alcaraz came passing it
in an epic five hour and 15 match
having had match point in that one.
[line umpire] Let.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Alcaraz.
[Mark] He's got to chase him already
in this opening set has Alcaraz.
That is a formidable service game,
but it is Sinner that does have
the advantage at the moment
as Laura Robson catches up once again
with Jannik's coach Simone.
[Laura] Simone,
pretty excellent start so far tonight.
I'm interested
in your approach to this one
because I love to hear Jannik
after US Open say that he wanted
to add some variety to his game.
Is that what you were thinking about
before this one?
Yes, he had a really good start.
He's playing really good.
And-- But I don't want to say too much
about the tactics now.
It's fine, you're not on live TV
or anything.
So…
No, you know, with Carlos,
normally the first…
who will be aggressive.
Normally he can win the point more often,
so you have to be really aggressive
at every point.
It doesn't give the time to Carlos
to turn around with the forehand
and from this position
it's really, really dangerous.
-And after his last match…
-[chair umpire] Time.
…he said it was one of the best
serving days he's ever had.
What makes a good serving day for him?
Is it the first set percentage?
Is it just his ability to hit the spots?
[Simone] We changed the motion
after the US Open.
Now, the rhythm is better.
You have more first service,
it's more precise.
So let's see today
if we can continue like this.
-[Laura] Good luck.
-[Simone] Thank you.
[Mark]
Constantly looking for improvements.
Of course,
first serve percentage under 50%,
which was crucial
in terms of the opportunities
that Alcaraz had to break Sinner
in that final in New York.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] That's very interesting
because I talked to him
in New York and he already told me
that they've been changing the motion,
the motion on the serve already.
So after the US Open,
they, you know,
they keep finding solutions
on that serve to…
to get better.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Mark] Both players showing some
great skills on the slice backhand.
Sinner playing the short one
to bring Alcaraz in
and then picking him off
with the forehand pass.
[Tim] That was interesting, wasn't it?
Because that was
a very deliberate short response
on the backhand side.
And you wouldn't necessarily say
that's your first kind of tactic
is to bring Alcaraz into the net.
But maybe he felt he was bringing him
in on his terms.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Forty-love.
[Tim]
You would expect to see a lot of…
weaving around the service box
from Jannik's second serve,
not giving Alcaraz that kicker.
Otherwise he's going to see the crush
and rush off the two-hander
and coming in behind it.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Tim] Flawless.
[chair umpire] Sinner leads.
Three games to one.
[crowd singing indistinctly]
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Tickets for this event
sold out in six minutes.
Such was the demand.
[line umpire] Out.
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[indistinct shouting]
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark]
Interested, Tim, in your psychology.
You go off to a great start like this,
as Jannik has.
He has the firepower.
He loves to trade very quickly line.
Is it something
that he should be thinking about,
not giving Alcaraz rhythm?
Because this is free money,
really, these return games.
[Tim] Yeah, I would keep being aggressive.
Because he has the weapons
to stay aggressive
-without making unforced errors.
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Tim] And this is the nuts and bolts,
the bread and butter of his game. And…
he has got off to a fast start.
He's got the pressure on his opponent.
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
[Tim] Stay aggressive. Don't be careless.
But if it's there to be hit,
you hit it.
-[Mark] Oh.
-[crowd gasping]
[line umpire] Out.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] Spellbinding the return…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
…and then just barely missed it.
[crowd shouting indistinctly]
[Feliciano] It's incredible his ability
to generate pace and power
on the stretch of the return.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Tim] That was an edgy looking forehand,
we saw it with Jannik
in the semi-final
how aggressive he was
on the first serve of Djokovic
and we're seeing it again tonight
against the world's best.
As he sits down
it is four-one to Jannik Sinner.
And of course the players have come here
to try and win this title
but they've also been giving back here
in Riyadh
and all six players getting
on the court earlier this week
with the kids.
[upbeat music playing]
So you hit, you go under, you hit,
follow through forward and then up.
Okay? Here and then up.
[overlapping chatter]
All right, that was a good one!
It was a nice one!
Thank you.
Well done.
[indistinct chatter]
[man] Hands up! Yay!
[Mark] What a great opportunity
for those kids to get on the court
with six of the best players in the world.
Get a few tips from Novak,
who of course has been helping his kids
play a little bit of tennis.
He'll know how to build that shot
from the bottom up.
This man is going to have to figure out
a way to try and get himself inserted
in the conversation in this opening set.
And he's going to have to do it fast.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] How was the opening game?
Because I missed it.
I was, you know, making my way here.
[Mark]
Sinner just came out straight to love-40.
Just clinical, ball striking.
-So he hasn't been erratic, Carlos.
-[Mark] No.
Alcaraz responded with one big forehand,
but it was…
an impressive early break.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Tim] Perhaps what's been most impressive
from Jannik is
that he stopped any sign
of the drop shot from the Spaniard.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
[Tim] Always has a big success rate
with that particular shot
but twelve out of thirteen points won
in the semi against Fritz for Carlos
and he was out here hitting a lot
of them in practice prior to this match,
but nothing you can do
when the ball is landing where it is
at the moment from Sinner's racket.
[line umpire] Out.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Mark] Whatever the adjustments
they've made on serve
has been absolutely faultless in Riyadh.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Tim] This is unbelievable.
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Mark] Two hundred
and sixteen kilometers an hour.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Sinner leads.
Five games to one.
[Mark] Nineteen minutes gone.
And there's been a broad expansion
of both players.
I mean, they've changed a lot technically.
You look at Jannik's backhand,
completely different to how it was.
You look at the way that Carlos' serve
has changed over the years as well.
A lot of players get caught up
in sort of one theme,
but these guys have looked
at their whole game holistically
and have changed a number of things
to get them in this position. And…
The center shift on serve at the moment…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
-…has been mesmerizing.
Once again, you can see how quick he is
to go back down the line
not getting caught into any kind
of predictable pattern cross-court.
[Tim] He's playing with the freedom
of the scoreboard up five-one.
[line umpire] Fault.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-0.
[Tim]
To take that second serve return early.
Few concerned faces in the Alcaraz camp.
[Mark] Carlos long-term coach for Alcaraz
got a lot of data
going back many many years
in terms of how his games evolved.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Tim] It's got amazing wrist lag as we see
Carlos' dad on his backhand, Jannik.
That's where
a lot of the natural power comes.
He kind of lags the wrist back
and he can flick it
with seemingly no backswing at all.
[Mark] Carlos' brother.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] That's the only shot
I would expect in that moment
after that great return from Sinner.
[Tim] And look where it lands.
Inch perfect.
[Mark] I mean, if I'm Sinner,
I'm grabbing that ball.
I'm just checking
it's got some bounce in it.
That thing just robbed it
of its bounce entirely.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
-[Tim] Highlight reel gets longer.
-[Mark] Yeah.
This is absolute cinema here from Sinner,
who's the leading man.
Inside the service line,
struck with so much power.
[chair umpire] Game, Alcaraz.
[Mark] He's having to dial through
the list of options at his disposal.
It's Carlos Alcaraz just to get games
on the board at the moment.
And he's done a nice job
of doubling his tally
as Laura goes to a man who's trying
to figure everything out.
[Laura] I guess the question is,
what are you telling Carlos at the moment?
Because it's a pretty flawless performance
from Jannik so far.
Yeah, I mean, this kind of serve base,
I think Jannik, he likes to play so fast
and even here that the altitude
is a little bit high,
the ball goes very fast all the time.
So I'm going to tell Carlos try
to make the point the first three,
four ba*ls to try
to make it into the rally,
but it's not going to be easy
to play this aggressive.
Do you feel like he maybe wants to add
a little bit more height at times?
Because we see him trying
to add the variety that he does so well,
but it's almost like he's got
no time to do that right now.
Exactly. Everything comes very fast
and Carlos likes to play…
a lot of variety, but…
at this time
it's going to be difficult to do it
because Jannik is playing so fast.
And I like that from you guys.
It seems like you're applauding half
of Jannik's shots as well.
There's so much appreciation.
You know, you can see the high level
right now in this court.
So it's nice
to applause whatever points comes.
-Good luck.
-Thank you.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Carlos, she feels going to need
a little bit of luck at the moment
if Sinner continues
to do what he's doing.
Barely missed the first serve,
barely missed its target.
[chair umpire] Let.
First service.
[fan] Love you, Sinner.
[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano]
Carlos willing to find solutions
now standing a bit more far back
from the baseline.
[line umpire] Out.
-[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
-[Mark] Those look like really bad misses
if you're sitting at home. And--
But the reality of the situation,
when somebody's playing as well
as Sinner is and as good as Sinner is,
if you drop that
just over the service line,
you're going to lose the point anyway.
You have to find the last third
of the court.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] He's been only targeting
the wide corners on both sides so far.
A 100% of his serves, they went…
either wide…
on the deuce and also on the ad side.
[Mark] Alcaraz is just about
to say goodbye to this opening set.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And Sinner in under half an hour,
halfway to defending his title here
at the Six Kings Slam.
And games proving difficult for Alcaraz
to get as are solutions right now.
["Don't Stop the Music" playing]
[Mark] Oh, whatever…
Jannik felt after that US Open defeat,
he has certainly looked at the adversity
of the moment and has turned it
into something very positive.
["POWER" playing]
♪ I'm living in that 21st century
Doing something… ♪
[Andrew] Introducing a 24-year-old Italian
who finished last year
as the world number one.
This year he became the first Italian
to win on the grass of Wimbledon.
He's won four Grand Slams
in the last two years…
[Mark] Some iconic images as Jannik
as you can see there
using the wearable camera getting you up
close with his move onto court
and he quickly made his move
once the ba*ls were in play.
Heads.
[music playing]
-And tails, your call.
-[Sinner] I receive.
Can we have a photo here, please.
[Mark] Alcaraz was smiling then.
He's not smiling at the moment as he has
been eclipsed by the Italians' class
as we whip you around
inside the ANB Arena.
A little miniature drone taking you
across all the 8000 fans
that have packed into this stadium.
This, of course, the third Arabian night
that we have had the Six Kings Slam,
and outside their stadium as well,
in the fan village
where we saw Laura Robson in earlier.
You can get involved "#SixKingsSlam".
[chair umpire]
Second set. Alcaraz to serve.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Tim] Alcaraz was given no chance
to settle in that first set
so important that he just…
establishes himself early part
of this second set.
Going to hold a serve,
get his nose in front.
[line umpire] Fault.
[line umpire] Out.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[crowd chanting "Let's go, Carlos!
Let's go!", crowd clapping]
[line umpire] Fault.
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[Feliciano] Good intention,
not beautifully ex*cuted but…
I think this is what he needs to do more,
try to dictate more with his forehand…
after his serve,
so far, he wasn't allowed to do it.
[chuckles]
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Great use of the kicker.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Mark] Yeah, the faster he serves
is almost the quicker it's come back.
So a nice little change up there
from Alcaraz.
[Tim] That's the one Laura was
talking about, how high the ball gets up.
It's the short reply,
the forehand into play.
[line umpire] Let.
That's a really promising start
for Alcaraz
at the beginning of the second.
-He needed that.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] First game, second set.
[Mark] And he can control
the outcome of those games,
but it has been increasingly difficult
for Alcaraz to get involved
at all in Sinner's service game.
And, Tim, this is why.
[Tim] Just pinpoint accuracy.
Within a couple of feet of the lines,
those red ba*ls
are the serves that are not coming back.
So, 73% unreturned.
Alcaraz is going to certainly hope
that Sinner misses a few more serves.
Get himself stuck into a service game.
But an important hold
in that first game for Alcaraz.
[Mark] 70% first serves in.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Mark] And sparing use
of the serve down the T,
as Feli was saying
on the deuce on the ad side.
[line umpire] Fault.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Feliciano] Some quality stuff, Tim,
as Laura likes to say.
[Tim] Changed the shape there, Alcaraz,
but then dropped that ball too short.
Back behind with the forehand,
ball striking of the highest quality.
[Mark] Yeah, and anything that's landing
around the service line
in a rally situation
is just green light territory
for both of these two.
[crowd applauding]
[Mark] Any value
in hitting a block return for Alcaraz?
I know he can make more returns,
but is it going
to be a situation where he's just
sitting there for Sinner to dominate?
[Tim] If you are going to block it,
you've got to get it probably
within three feet of the baseline.
Otherwise, Sinner will have time
to get in position,
dictate with either the forehand
or the backhand.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[Tim] The reality is if it's coming down
at 212 kilometers an hour at altitude…
it's not easy for any type of return.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[speaks indistinctly]
[Mark] Can add another red ball
to that animation that we just showed you
from Sinner
as he's managed
to hit another one right there.
There's something that Alcaraz
is just a little bit troubled
by on the playing surface
back there at the moment.
But he's more troubled
by this man's excellence.
Flawless 35 minutes from Sinner.
Both these two so close to doing
the career Grand Slam already.
Nadal still the youngest ever
to complete that
at 24 years old and three months.
Alcaraz still
with that opportunity to eclipse…
the Spanish superstar.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[crowd chanting "Let's go, Carlos!
Let's go!", crowd clapping]
[indistinct dialogue]
[Feliciano] He's reacting better now
after he served Carlos…
on the first shot.
[line umpire] Out.
[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim] Seems like he's lurking
in the back end corner
for that slice cross court from Alcaraz
and he's getting around it and hitting
forehands every single time.
[line umpire] Let.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[crowd cheering, crowd clapping]
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-15.
[line umpire] Let.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] It's the most devastating shot
in tennis.
[Mark] Alcaraz perhaps just lost his way
concentrating so hard about
how to stay competitive that he wasn't
sure what the score was.
But he'll be delighted to see
that was the final point of that game.
Two-one to Alcaraz in the second,
at least giving Sinner something
to think about.
And it's been a second year here
at the ANB Arena
during Riyadh Season,
which is for a sixth time.
And we are just a small walk away
from the Boulevard World.
And it is a place
that was inaugurated back
in November of 2022
as part of the Riyadh Season.
And it has already attracted
over six million viewers.
[upbeat music playing]
[Mark] As we see Steph and Zverev
taking a little walk around the boulevard.
Well, there is much to admire.
You can see there the pyramids.
You can go and see
a replica of the Great Wall of China.
Not an entire one, obviously.
There are some Italian flavor there.
[chair umpire] Time.
And there is a 12-hectare,
man-made lagoon,
arguably the biggest in the world,
and it is all part
of the Saudi vision of 2030
and their bigger push
to try and get more visitors to come
to this part of the world.
That was when it was first built
and unveiled the biggest LED sphere
in the world.
Plenty of entertainment and heritage.
We saw a lot of heritage last night,
didn't we, guys, over in the Old City?
-In fact, Carlos' team was out there.
-[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
It was great to have a wander
around and see the sights.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] Seems to be struggling
in the return, Carlos, a little bit today.
[Tim]
Hasn't quite found his timing, has he?
[Feliciano] Yeah, not finding his timing.
-[Tim] Ball getting up on him.
-[Feliciano] Different positioning.
[line umpire] Out.
[Tim] With Sinner serving
so consistently well on the first serve,
that really emphasizes…
how Alcaraz has got to take advantage
of any second-serve opportunities.
I think he can do
with the quality of these first serves.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] Simply astonishing
just how good both of them are.
But once again,
it is Sinner that comes out on top
in one of these complicated rallies.
[Tim] Yeah, it was an amazing
forehand cross-court there from Sinner.
Alcaraz trying to play
the drop shot again, but…
It's on the defensive.
Seems like every service game,
Sinner's up 40-love.
-[crowd cheering]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Mark] Well, patience is an action
in these moments
for somebody like Alcaraz.
He's just got to bide his time
and just keep trying to do
what he can on his own serve
to stay ahead
and wait for some sort of drop-off.
[crowd chanting "Let's go, Carlos!
Let's go!", crowd clapping]
[Mark] Three titles for Jannik
this season.
Eight for this man, two are leading.
And in terms
of match wins as well for Alcaraz.
[chair umpire] Get that ball, please.
Thank you.
[crowd gasps]
-[line umpire] Out.
-[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Love-15.
[Tim]
Talked numerous times about the altitude,
and normally
that means it's tougher to control
certain shots.
The topspin lob being one of them,
but that was beautifully played by Sinner.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering]
-[Mark] Wow.
Right at the end of the range.
But he glues one to the line.
And Alcaraz in danger
of getting unstuck here
in a third service game
of his in this second set.
[Tim] Pinpoint accuracy.
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark] Sinner's had the rhythm
on his first serve,
can't be said of Alcaraz.
[crowd gasps]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Tim] Just doesn't seem to matter,
the scoreline.
Down love-30, going to the drop shot,
beautifully placed.
[Mark] Arguably, that's his best
strategic move, to be honest, though.
[Tim] It's about the only thing
that's been successful tonight.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Jannik does enjoy
a little bit of altitude, doesn't it?
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
-[Mark] Turin just sits under 300 meters
in terms of altitude where he won
last year here, just over 600.
And of course,
won against the best of the best,
dropping the fewest number
of games ever
in that particular competition last year.
Thirty-three.
[crowd cheering]
[Mark] And that does make things simple
when you take the racket
out of Sinner's hands.
[Tim] Yeah, 215 kilometers an hour
right onto the line.
Needs a few more of those right now.
[Mark] Can he find another one
to bail himself out of trouble?
[line umpire] Fault.
[Mark]
Where does he go with his second serve?
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Feliciano] Good hustle there from Carlos.
[Tim] Yeah, it's really the--
One would say, the first poor shot
that Sinner's hit tonight
after 46 minutes
on a big point, break point.
He had the opportunity on that forehand.
[indistinct shouting]
[Mark] Oh, my goodness, what a recovery.
There is no respite
from this brilliance for Alcaraz.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Sinner.
[Tim] Talked about the anticipation
of Djokovic in the previous match.
Sinner guesses right
and then still executes
the beautiful backhand pass cross-court.
Not bad.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Fabulous response.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Feliciano] 218 kilometers per hour.
-[Tim] Out wide.
-[Feliciano] Yeah.
I think playing indoors
clearly favors Sinner's game.
[crowd cheering]
[Tim] Certainly looks that way tonight.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Alcaraz.
[Feliciano] Generally, I think…
the fact that they're playing indoors
is better for Sinner.
I think Carlos cannot be that
much destructive with his game.
[line umpire] Let.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Feliciano] He got the opportunity
to go down the line on that forehand.
He went cross-court instead
and Sinner was there waiting…
to unload that beautiful forehand
on the line.
[crowd cheering]
[chair umpire] Advantage, Alcaraz.
[Mark] Sometimes
when somebody's playing this well,
it almost makes life a little bit easier.
The absence of alternatives really
for Alcaraz, he has to go big.
[fan shouting indistinctly]
[line umpire] Fault.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Deuce.
[inaudible dialogue]
[Mark] So one thing that
that great partnership has had is
that he's given him a lot
of confidence and permission
to go out and play the way
that he's wanted to play.
Hasn't tried to rein him in too much
over the years Juan Carlos.
[crowd cheering]
[Feliciano] He went for too much, maybe.
[Tim] Yeah, I was going to say,
you can't criticize him
for not going for his shots.
[Feliciano] Of course not.
[Tim] And you would back him
to make that drive volley.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And you'd back Alcaraz
to make that forehand as well.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[indistinct chatter]
[Mark] I feel like this is a critical game
for Alcaraz right now.
Got to find a way to come through it.
-Oh, my goodness me.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] It took two exquisite shots
from Sinner to get past Alcaraz.
[chair umpire] Advantage, Sinner.
[Mark] But there doesn't seem to be
a shortage of those this evening.
[Tim] Even with a slip,
Sinner was able to move forward
and retreat and drive
that backhand down the line.
[Mark] He's been crunching his serve
when it's been break point.
Averaging 191.
Breakpoints, he's been going 214.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Feliciano] He did it, again.
[chair umpire] Deuce.
[Mark] That was 217.
[crowd chanting "Let's go, Carlos!
Let's go!", crowd clapping]
[chair umpire] Pick the ball, please.
[line umpire] Fault.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Advantage, Alcaraz.
[crowd chanting "Let's go, Carlos!
Let's go!", crowd clapping]
-[chair umpire] Game, Alcaraz.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire]
Alcaraz leads, three games to two.
[Mark] It's not Escape from Alcatraz,
it's escape from Sinner.
And he has somehow managed
to hang on to his serve,
and just how important that might be,
Laura Robson?
[Laura] Just such a funny reaction
from him as well.
He's been up against the wall all night
and Jannik finally throwing in
an unforced error or two in that game,
but over ten minutes,
he's had to battle so hard.
I love to see the increase
in the serve speed down break point,
and maybe that's the play going forward.
Just go for break because, you know,
you've got such a little opportunity
with the aggressive way that Jannik Sinner
is moving from the back of the court,
and you can hear Sinner creeping up
to the drop shots.
Yeah, it's just been
a phenomenal performance from the Italian,
but this is where,
after coming through a game like that,
you might expect Carlos
to gain a bit of momentum
to kind of free flow a little bit.
There's some indecision
about whether to pull the trigger,
sometimes on the forehand,
whether to go fast with the forehand cross
or go for a bit more shape.
And usually, he looks like
he has all the time in the world
to make those kind of choices.
But, yeah, it seems like
the crowd definitely want more tennis.
-[chair umpire] Time.
-[Laura] That's pretty safe to say.
So, yeah,
interesting two games ahead, I think.
[Mark] Laurie, I see you've been
upgraded to the VIP suite.
Is that because you've been
hanging around with Prakash?
-[Laura chuckling]
-[Mark] 'Cause he is only Mr. Triple A.
All access.
[Laura] Yeah, yeah,
somehow they haven't kicked me out yet.
[Mark chuckling] Good for you.
Let's see whether Jannik's serve
continues to keep,
or turn Carlos into a bit of a turnstile
as he's reaching and diving
and spinning around in his effort
to try and get it back in a play.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Sinner sends Alcaraz off
to visit Sinner's team. [chuckling]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Tim]
Just climbing all over this backhand.
Amazing angle. Look where Alcaraz…
is having a quick chat
with Sinner's coach.
-[Mark] Asking for some tactics.
-[Tim chuckling] "What can I do?"
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
-[Mark] Oh!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Well, if you can do that…
keep doing it.
[Tim] This is a big strike
from Sinner on the forehand,
but the speed of Alcaraz to get behind it
and then create that angle.
[Mark] And there were
some big one of those
in New York as well, weren't there?
[Tim] There certainly were.
Thirty-love back to 30-all.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] If he'll take a gamble
and get in even closer here
and not allow that ball to climb on him,
does obviously--
He's gone back, he's gone the other way.
Had to change something.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-30.
[Tim] I think he achieved his goal
on the return of serve.
He played with shape,
he got the ball back deep.
He got into the rally, but again,
that ball striking for Sinner
going down the line on the forehand.
[line umpire] Out!
[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Feliciano] It's a good hold
from Sinner, huh?
-[Mark] Yep.
-[Tim] First real pressure.
And it was only a 30-all.
It wasn't as if there was
a break point, but…
Coming up with the goods consistently.
[Feliciano] I have the feeling
when they play each other
that the more they open the court,
the more they put themselves in danger.
-It's crazy.
-[Mark] Couldn't agree with you more.
-[Feliciano] Huh?
-[Mark] Yeah, if you don't hit
the perfect shot out wide,
you actually feel as though
you've actually handed
the advantage to the opponent.
[Feliciano] Of course, it's crazy.
[Mark]
That's testament to how well they move,
that they can get behind the ball
and control the ball.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] That is not an easy ball
to redirect that well.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[line umpire] Let.
[line umpire] Let.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-all.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Fifteen-30.
[Mark] And it's not just a case
of surviving that ball for Alcaraz
when it's deep into his backhand
like we just saw there,
because he knows once again,
just putting the ball in the court,
cross-court…
is going to allow Sinner
to unleash another heavy ground-stroke.
[line umpire] Fault!
[Mark] Doesn't get the opportunity
to reload with the first serve.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Mark] And it's code red
for Alcaraz…
as Sinner continues to run red hot.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-40.
[Mark] You can only hit that shot there
if you back yourself
from a movement point
at the back of the court
because he opened up the cross-court,
and Alcaraz perhaps,
could have let fly a little bit more.
[line umpire] Out!
[chair umpire] Thirty-40.
[Tim] You really felt that Sinner had
the upper hand in that point,
but Alcaraz did well
to turn defense into attack.
Perhaps keep his hopes alive
in this second set.
[indistinct shouting]
[chair umpire] Let, first service.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[Mark] Oh! Oh, my goodness!
-[Tim] So good.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
[Mark] You will not see a finer point
played on a break point.
[chair umpire]
Sinner leads, four games to three.
[Mark] And he was tested off what was
an unbelievably good reply from Alcaraz,
off a return of serve
that was completely unexpected.
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
you've been enjoying
this wonderful match…
[Mark] Couldn't find the big first serve,
had to try and defend it with the second.
[announcer] …Six Kings Slam…
[speaking indistinctly]
[Tim] Such a well-constructed point,
the change of direction
on the return of serve.
Alcaraz looking
to get the forehand in play,
then has to chip that one.
Sinner did so well
to get down to the forehand volley.
-Closes in and puts it away.
-[upbeat music playing over speakers]
[Tim] And credit where credit is due.
This is what Sinner's talked about.
-[chair umpire] Time.
-[Tim] He wants to bring more variation.
He wants to be able
to finish points at the net,
which is easy to do
when you're up four-one, two breaks.
But a three-all break point
against your greatest rival,
that is positive signs.
[Mark] And also a little bit of
a nod of the cap to the rivalry.
The rivals make each other better players.
We saw it with the Big Four,
we saw it with Borg and McEnroe,
we've seen it across the ages.
And Alcaraz's tennis
making Sinner a better player.
And we're the beneficiaries.
-Unfortunately for Alcaraz tonight…
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
…it doesn't look as though
he's gonna be the beneficiary.
[Tim] Another pinpoint serve at…
[Mark] He's a king with a handful of Aces.
[Mark] I mean, that serve, Feli,
is a nightmare
going forward for everybody.
Because, I mean, how do you
get yourself back to neutral?
I mean, it's going short and wide.
You're outside the doubles line.
[Feliciano] There's no way
you can neutralize that serve.
And if you're able
to put the ball in play,
you're so far off the court, so…
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-15.
[fans shouting] Come on, Carlos!
[Mark] A rare point lost against this
dominating first serve of the Italian.
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[Mark] Obviously,
one of the reasons for staying back…
-[chair umpire] Forty-15.
-…is also to give yourself
a little bit more time on the turn,
but also to try and survive the plus one
that's coming off this man's racket,
and that certainly happened for Alcaraz
in the early stages of that exchange.
But it's another service point
collected for Sinner,
and it's about to be
another game, you feel.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] Game, Sinner.
-[Tim] And away in the home stretch
or can this man
run a little bit of interference,
because it has been one-way traffic
from the start here
for Jannik Sinner, Feli?
[chair umpire] Sinner leads,
five games to three.
[Feliciano] Yeah, absolutely, Mark,
one-way traffic so far
throughout this match.
Curious to see how…
what Carlitos is capable of doing now.
Doesn't look good for him, but…
he went through more difficult situations
than this one,
playing Jannik Sinner…
not far ago. [chuckling]
-[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Carlos just wanted to check
the serve speed out there, it was 219.
[Feliciano chuckling]
So far, I think the fastest for him,
probably.
[line umpire] Fault!
-Out!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[fans cheering]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[chair umpire] Forty-love.
[line umpire] Fault!
-Out!
-[chair umpire] Game, Alcaraz.
[Mark] Alcaraz, may well be the king
of all these surveys at the moment
in terms of being the world's best,
but it doesn't look as though
Sinner is gonna
abdicate his throne tonight.
Unless the Spaniard can come up
with something special.
And I'm sure the man
that Laura Robson is with right now
hopes that doesn't happen.
[Laura]
Yeah, this feels like a very good moment
to come and speak to you,
because have you ever seen
Jannik play this decisively against Carlos
and it's been so one-sided for him?
Yeah, he's playing really well.
He's playing aggressive.
I really like the break point
when he came to the net after the return.
And, yeah, it's… we go on court,
we try something different,
and it's doing really, really well.
So, let's see now.
I hope that he holds this game.
In a situation like this,
are you just saying,
"Keep doing what you're doing,
there's nothing new to be added,
just focus on one point at a time"?
Yes, when he's in the zone,
I don't say too much.
I try to keep him just focused
and continue like this.
[Laura] I feel like you haven't needed
to say too much tonight. [chuckles]
[Simone] Yeah, yeah, tonight,
I didn't say right now too much, so…
-[Laura] Mm-hmm. Good luck.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] Sinner on the doorstep
of another little bit of personal history
by defending
his Six Kings Slam championship
that he won last year.
Just one more good service game away.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[Feliciano] Nothing to say, Mark.
[chair umpire] Fifteen-love.
[Feliciano] When someone is serving
with this high percentage,
there's nothing you can do.
And the plus one shot from Sinner,
it's… [blows raspberry]
…it's a k*ller.
[line umpire] Fault!
-[line umpire] Out!
-[crowd applauding]
[chair umpire] Thirty-love.
[Mark] I loved what Simone
was saying there.
"We love to try new things."
Obviously, they need to be effective
in terms of the outcomes for him,
but that's what you get when you hire
people like Simone and Darren Cahill.
You get a wellspring of knowledge,
and it also keeps practice fresh.
It's a lot of hours on the court.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Mark] And the retooling of the serve
has proved to be priceless.
[chair umpire] Forty-love.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[chair umpire] And second match, Sinner.
[Mark] Sinner builds a desert dynasty
in Saudi Arabia
as he wins the Six Kings Slam
for a second time.
["Viva la Vida" playing over speakers]
[Mark] Doesn't rain often
in this part of the world, Feli,
but it rains if your name's Jannik Sinner.
[Feliciano] As Tim Herman likes to say,
"Another clinical performance
from the Italian."
Honestly, Carlos had nothing to do today
to get back into the match.
I think Sinner's serve
made the difference today,
just like Carlos' serve
made the difference in New York
when they played.
[Mark] It's not a complete overhaul
and it's not a complete reinvention
of his game,
but it was certainly hugely impressive.
And he is going to be a hard man to stop,
particularly in this part of the world.
Alex Vittur, the man that's looking after
all of his business interests.
Alejandro Resnicoff,
who worked on the Tour for 15 years,
his new physio since September,
and it is a very promising start
for that particular partnership.
[announcer] The trophy presentation area
is being set up.
We'll do that as quickly as possible…
[Mark] It's not often that you lead
from g*n to tape
against the world's best,
but that's exactly what happened tonight.
[announcer speaking indistinctly]
…that would be very much appreciated…
[Feliciano] I think we're going to see
a lot of that in the future.
Because they're going to play
many, many times in the future,
Carlos and Jannik.
[Prakash] What a spectacular performance
that was by Jannik Sinner.
Couldn't really put a foot wrong.
Served extremely well.
Ultra aggressive on the returns,
all of his decisions out there.
Tim, your calls were brilliant out there.
You pointed out him looking to be
even more aggressive on the big moments,
finding his way into the net
behind the return on the break point
in the second set.
-He dialed it up a notch today, didn't he?
-[Tim] Yeah, most definitely.
It was such a complete performance
from Jannik Sinner,
and I think he set the tone
literally in the first game of the match.
He was up love-40,
he got that break of serve from Alcaraz,
and then really just went
from strength to strength.
So, it's great to see
their competitive spirit.
You see them on the side of the court.
They're congratulating each other's teams,
the shaking of the hands, the hugs.
So, yeah, it's a tough, tough night
at the office for Carlos Alcaraz,
but a brilliant performance
from Jannik Sinner.
[Prakash] You pointed that out.
One of the best things about this rivalry,
the love, the respect.
I think it's going to be very special
to watch over the next decade or so.
As far as Carlos' performance tonight,
it was rough because, as you said,
Jannik got off to such a brilliant start.
But when things are moving so fast,
fast conditions,
it's tougher for him
to use his weapons to get out of it.
[Tim] Yeah, that's right.
You know, to think about sort of variation
or changing up the speeds or spins,
it's so difficult when you're playing
in these types of fast altitude,
as it's been all week.
And then add to that against, I think,
the greatest ball striker
in the game right now.
Sinner was just playing
at full power, full pace.
And I think this is much more to do
with the quality of Sinner's performance,
rather than anything
that Alcaraz really did wrong.
[Prakash] It's been
a packed house tonight.
Energy has been absolutely brilliant.
-[dramatic music playing]
-[Prakash] Everyone thrilled at the chance
to be able to watch
these two transcendent champions.
Can't wait to see where they end up in…
the next few years,
piling up the Grand Slams.
And now, Jannik Sinner
with his second Six Kings Slam.
[indistinct chatter]
[dramatic music playing]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Prakash] Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous.
Laura, you had a chat with both camps,
and they both kind of were feeling
the same thing.
Juan Carlos was just--
You know, there's not a whole lot
he can do out there,
trying to get him to maybe first few shots
be a bit more aggressive.
Simone was like, "Uh-uh, not really much
I can tell him out there."
[Laura chuckles] I will say
Simone looked a lot more relaxed
the second time I went up to him.
And yeah, I guess it's just a great day
at the office for Team Sinner.
He barely put a foot wrong.
There was only a handful
of unforced errors
for Alcaraz to work with,
and it felt like he had to work so hard
to win points on his own serve,
which at US Open
was a totally different story.
So, yeah, very different matchup,
but I love that the rivalry gets closer
every time that they play.
We want them to push each other,
and, you know, every time
you think someone has the advantage,
it goes the opposite way.
So, Tim and I had
-a great prediction ahead of this one.
-[Prakash chuckles]
[Laura]
I do wanna get that out early doors
that we were right in this scenario.
But yeah, I think we were just treated
to an epic performance
-from the Italian tonight.
-[Prakash] Well called. Good call.
[Tim] We probably shouldn't dwell
on the fact that Feli got it wrong,
-but as Laura quite rightly said…
-[Laura] Good to mention though.
-… it was-- Yes.
-[Prakash] I'm in the box too.
Me and Feli are in the…
we're in the bad box here.
But no, you guys picked it brilliantly.
Tim, perfect opportunity for me
to ask you this,
because coming to the net is something
that Sinner's trying to employ more.
Do you feel him more comfortable up there?
He's not just coming up
with a great approach shot,
putting away the volley,
he's digging out volleys,
-moving into the right spots a bit better.
-[Tim] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
And actions speak louder than words.
He's talked about this after the US Open,
but to come out
against his greatest rival,
and really look to use that tactic,
and it wasn't… as I said,
it wasn't when he was just using it
when he was up a double break,
and he had the confidence of the lead,
but, you know, that break point
at three-all in the second set
when he took
the second serve return down the line,
he followed it in.
Alcaraz used his foot speed to respond
with a very clever forehand,
and, you know, that was one
of the most important points
in the second set,
and it went Sinner's way
when he was at the net.
[Prakash] Huge credit to both players,
because all of these changes
that they employ in their game.
Some people take time away from the game,
and don't work on it in matches,
then try to get comfortable with it,
employ it.
They've been doing it in matches,
really, credit to the confidence
in themselves,
and the game that they have.
Laura, moving forward from here,
it's a little bit more
of an indoor season here for both players.
Carlos Alcaraz,
any adjustments he might make?
Sinner, obviously,
looking virtually perfect,
but on the Alcaraz side…?
[Laura] Oh, it's a tough one,
because traditionally, this time of year,
in the past,
we've seen him already be quite tired,
and, you know, last year in Turin,
he turned up,
and he wasn't physically a 100%
at the ATP finals.
He was dealing with a bit of a flu,
and then, of course,
combined with the altitude courts,
just didn't have a great week.
So, the most important thing is that
he's able to stay healthy
till the end of the season,
that we see these two competing
at their best level
until the very last tournament.
And of course, they've got
Davis Cup as well to think about.
It's never ending.
But yeah, we just hope that, you know,
we see more of these kind of matchups,
and it does feel like
they're playing each other
every week at the moment,
-but we can't get enough.
-[Prakash laughs]
The quality of tennis
has been absolutely exceptional here.
As we talked about,
no room to work your way into the event,
you're playing the best of the best…
from the absolute start.
Magnificent scenes here now on the court.
Let's get down to Andrew Castle
with the presentation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome
to the trophy presentation ceremony,
here at the second edition
of the Six Kings Slam.
Would you please welcome to the stage,
His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh,
Chairman of
the General Entertainment Authority.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] Also, please welcome
His Excellency, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan,
-Chairman of Aramco.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] Salman Al Dossary is here,
Minister of Media.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] Thank you for being here,
Your Excellency.
And the President
and Chief Executive Officer of Aramco,
-Amin Nasser, is with us as well.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] Can we just say a big thank you
to the ball boys and the ball girls
who've done an excellent job
over three days of play.
They're all local players,
and they've trained hard for many weeks.
And a big thank you
to the highly experienced chair umpire,
Carlos Ramos, of Portugal.
If I could ask you, Carlos, to come up
and receive a commemorative plate
for your contribution to the tournament.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
Thank you.
[Andrew] And now, ladies and gentlemen,
if you would show your fierce appreciation
for the runner-up this year,
the world number one,
playing in Riyadh again,
and entertaining us all so beautifully.
It wasn't to be today,
but what a joy it has been
to watch Carlos Alcaraz play.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
-[fan 1] For Juan Carlos!
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Andrew] And now,
your Six Kings Slam champion again,
and for the second time.
A wonderful performance
throughout his matches here in Riyadh
this year and last.
There's something about this tournament.
And here comes the golden racket
for the champion once again.
-Congratulations, Jannik Sinner.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
[crowd chanting indistinctly]
["POWER" playing]
♪ I'm living in that 21st century ♪
♪ Doing something mean to it ♪
♪ Do it better than anybody
You ever seen do it ♪
♪ Screams from the haters
Got a nice ring to it ♪
♪ I guess every superhero
Need his theme music ♪
♪ No one man should have all that power ♪
♪ The clock's ticking
I just count the hours ♪
♪ Stop tripping
I'm tripping off the power ♪
♪ Twenty-first-century schizoid man ♪
♪ The system broken
The school's closed, the prison's open ♪
♪ We ain't got nothing to lose
Everybody, we rolling ♪
♪ Huh? Everybody, we rolling ♪
♪ With some light-skinned girls
And some Kelly Rowlands ♪
♪ In this white man world
We the ones chosen ♪
♪ So, goodnight, cruel world
I'll see you in the morning ♪
♪ Huh? I'll see you in the morning ♪
♪ This is way too much, I need a moment ♪
♪ No one man should have all that power ♪
♪ The clock's ticking
I just count the hours ♪
♪ Stop tripping
I'm tripping off the power ♪
♪ 'Till then… that
The world's ours ♪
♪ And they say, and they say
And they say, and they say ♪
♪ And they say, and they say ♪
♪ Twenty-first-century schizoid man… ♪
[indistinct chatter]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
♪ I'm living in that 21st century
Doing something mean to it ♪
♪ Do it better than anybody
You ever seen do it ♪
♪ Screams from the haters
Got a nice ring to it ♪
♪ I guess every superhero
Need his theme music ♪
♪ No one man should have all that power ♪
[Andrew speaks indistinctly]
[indistinct dialogue]
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[fan 2] Juan Carlos!
Juan Carlos!
[Andrew] I'm sure there'll be time
for some more pictures in just a second.
If I can--
Can I just jump in with you two?
Congratulations.
Listen, he was too good today,
wasn't he, Carlos?
I mean,
when Jannik is playing at this level,
it's always difficult.
Um… today, he was just too good,
and I think, you know,
everybody could enjoy his tennis today,
but yeah,
it was a really high level of tennis.
That's about as well
as you can play, isn't it?
You always play well here.
Why do you always play well in Riyadh?
That's a good question.
I wish I could play like this everywhere.
-[chuckles] But…
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
Well, it's…
First of all,
it's always nice
to share the court with Carlos,
to see here the whole team of you.
You make an incredible job
throughout the whole season,
working very, very hard,
winning incredible titles,
titles after titles.
So, thanks actually for leaving one also
for me… [chuckles] …at the moment.
But no, it's-- We come here,
because we love to play here.
We love the atmosphere.
Thanks for coming, for sharing.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
[Sinner] The whole tournament,
the organization is amazing,
so, we all love to play here.
Do you really like him
when he plays that well against you?
Not really. [laughs]
Yeah, sometimes it seems like
he's playing ping-pong,
so, it's not funny,
to be honest, you know,
being, you know,
at the other side of the net.
But, you know,
I always say that
when he plays such a great tennis,
it gives me, you know, motivation
just to then go to the practice court,
give him a 100%, try to be better.
So, it is kind of a mix
that sometimes he's annoying,
but at the same time,
he, you know, gives me extra motivation.
And when you practice,
do you think about
maybe improving your game
for the next time you play him?
Not only maybe,
you think a lot about that,
but that's exactly why we need,
you know, Carlos,
and many other players to keep improving,
to keep looking up
to, you know, certain players,
especially for me, it's Carlos.
Because especially this season,
we played many, many times,
and lost also many times against Carlos,
so, you know, it's… first of all,
a huge pleasure and an honor
to share the court with him,
but in the same time, you know,
you want to get better as a tennis player,
and you need rivalries,
right, in the sport.
So, it's nice to have a great rivalry,
and then also, more importantly,
a great friendship off the court,
and it's a… we have
a very, very special friendship,
-and it's very nice.
-This is all very nice.
Do you send him little WhatsApp messages
saying "Well done" and things like that?
Yes. Sometimes. [laughs]
No, there is a few times that I wrote him
just to see how he's going,
to obviously congratulate him.
But yeah, I mean, yeah, as he said,
we have a special relationship, you know,
a friendship off the court,
which is great.
Not only, you know,
the rivalry we have on court
that might… the people think that…
When two tennis players are competing
for the great things,
are giving their best on the court,
they cannot have a great friendship
off the court.
And I think we saw that
it's possible as well.
So, it's…
I mean, we talk a lot
that might…
that people not think about it,
but we talk a lot.
We have had so much fun
watching you this week.
We've had a great deal of fun,
all of us tennis fans,
watching you in the last two years.
Nobody else has won
a Grand Slam championship,
and now, you come here,
and produce this wonderful tennis.
Thank you very much indeed to both of you
for producing such fine sport,
-and in such a sportsmanlike way.
-[crowd cheering]
Ladies and gentlemen,
the sport of tennis is blessed
with these two,
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
-More pictures, I think.
-[crowd cheering, applauding]
-["Ordinary" playing]
-[Prakash] Well, I tell you,
both these guys have been
such a tremendous gift
not just to tennis, but to all of sport.
Certainly a bit more of a one-sided affair
than we've seen.
But whenever they do step on the court,
something exceptional happens,
and in many aspects,
parts of the game too.
This is a level from Sinner,
especially on the serve,
-that perhaps we haven't seen before.
-[Tim] Yeah Absolutely.
I mean, it was a serving masterclass.
The way that he was able
to hit the corners,
but with such speed, power, accuracy,
it just gave Alcaraz so little
to get involved in Sinner's service games.
And then when your opponent
is holding serve that comfortably,
it puts more and more pressure
on your own serve,
because you feel
as if you lose your own serve,
that's gonna be the end of the set.
And yeah, it was a tough night,
but all credit to Jannik Sinner.
[Prakash] Buddy!
Buddy, well done. Well done.
Good fight out there today.
You're always smiling,
which we absolutely love.
Was it just a fantastic performance
from Jannik?
There wasn't many problems
you could try to solve out there today?
Yeah, I mean,
he played a great tennis today.
I think he didn't let me step
on the match, get the good rhythm.
He has said…
He was improving a lot on the serve,
and I could feel it.
No break points today,
which for me is something weird,
that I'm used to at least have
one break point in the match,
but, you know, when…
when he's serving such a…
you know, really good,
it's really difficult to play.
So, I just couldn't find a solution today,
so I think he deserved it.
When he's serving that well,
does it feel like it puts more pressure
on your own serve?
Because if you lose your serve,
you feel like the set could be over?
Yeah, absolutely,
it's just an extra pressure,
even more when it is Jannik Sinner,
that is probably one of the best,
if not the best, returning
that we have right now.
So, as I said, when he's serving that way,
when he's returning that way,
it's really difficult to stay calm.
So, it's-- You feel the pressure.
What motivation does this give you
for the indoor tournaments,
and the rest of the year though?
'Cause this was quite fast conditions,
but then there's more fast courts
coming up for the rest of the season.
Well, yeah, a few tournaments ahead,
indoor court.
And I'm trying to get used
to, you know, the spirit of the courts,
trying to play such a great tennis
that my record on indoor courts
is not the best one,
-but I'm trying to…
-[laughs]
go and approach the tournaments
in the best way possible.
I have the number one spot,
you know, on the line,
so, I will try to play my best
in the tournament that I have ahead.
Do you think, Carlos, playing indoors
makes it more difficult for you
-against Jannik?
-Probably.
-[Laura] Put him on the spot.
-[group laughs]
-He's listening, he's listening.
-Yeah, and I--
-You're-- You know, you're-- No, I--
-I saw you lean forward a little bit.
-[laughs]
-Don't talk about golf, guys.
-Yeah. [laughs]
-[group laughs]
-[laughs]
-No, but… but probably.
I mean, the record that he has
on indoor court is… is impressive.
Um… So, I think not… not many loses,
so it's, uh,
it's extra difficult
for me playing… playing indoor
against… against him.
Jannik, congratulations.
It's always such a special thing
to witness both of you on a court anytime,
anywhere in the world.
It's always something special.
He played such a high level today,
even in that second set, that break point.
Hit the return and went in.
Carlos, we see you.
Maybe you stole a few tricks from him.
You… You pulled it all-out today.
I… I have not the tricks what…
what he has.
-That's for sure.
-[laughs]
But, you know, I need to adapt.
I need to adapt,
especially when I play against Carlos.
I had some very tough losses,
you know, but also some great wins.
You know, it's a great rivalry and, uh…
As we said, you know, now in the ceremony,
we have a very special, you know,
friendship because it's very difficult now
to… to be a good rival on the court,
and being-- you know,
but also a good friend off the court.
Um… I'm not going to join him in golf,
that's for sure.
-[laughs]
-Because--
Oh, I'm not… I'm not going
to follow you in karting as well…
-Don't worry, I take care of that part.
-[indistinct] …or the ski.
But, you know, I think, you know,
rivalries are important for our sport. Um…
We are one of many rivalries
we have right now,
and I'm obviously
very happy to be part of,
and producing this kind of tennis
makes me obviously very happy.
It's certainly the rivalry.
It's helping push everyone on the tour.
You're making the sport better
every time you guys keep improving.
I must also ask, this time in Riyadh,
you guys have really taken in the culture.
You've spent a whole week here,
second time that you guys have come
after last year.
How has the week been?
Well, it… it's been great. Uh…
I would have loved to…
to see more here in Riyadh,
to… to spend, uh, uh, more… more time,
to do more activities here.
I… I know that here there are great spots,
but I couldn't go yet, I would say.
So-- But they treat us really,
really well.
I'm really happy to…
to see more… more countries,
to feel the culture here that's really,
um, pretty different than our culture.
So, it's… it's great to play
in another country and another way here.
Magnificent. Jannik, this is your second
Six Kings Slam victory here.
You guys have played
in the final both times.
Uh, Carlos was talking about moving on
towards the end of the season.
You had a very successful end
of the season last year.
Body feeling great at this juncture.
You're ready to continue
and try to chase this man
for that number one ranking?
Yeah, I mean, uh,
this year is going to be impossible.
Uh… But in the same time,
look, it's-- for me,
specially the end of the year
is very important.
I'm… I'm actually very lucky
because the UN Final are in Italy.
This gives me a lot of, you know,
energy and… and with my home people.
And I love indoors.
You know, I love indoors.
I… I really enjoy this kind of,
you know, scenarios.
I've been out two times in a row here.
It's great to see.
You know, many,
many people getting into tennis
and then to make the sport
as big as possible, which,
you know, that's… that's our goal.
And this is why we are, uh,
responsible for, and also…
also as players, and…
And it's great to come back, you know,
maybe, you know, even more because,
you know, you see that the…
that the sport here is so inspiring
and also is getting bigger and bigger.
So, we are all very happy.
Jannik, Carlos,
congratulations on a beautiful week.
-Thank you.
-Congratulations on the victory.
You guys are a blessing to the sport.
-Thank you.
-Thank you so much.
And it's a good-looking trophy.
-That's a great-looking trophy.
-We were eyeing that up.
-Is it heavy? Is that heavy?
-[indistinct chatter]
[laughs] Oh, my goodness.
That thing is really heavy.
-Is it actually?
-[laughs]
-That's incredible.
-[Feliciano] Wow.
-Oh, Jannik, enjoy. Enjoy. We see--
-I cannot hold it myself.
-[laughs] What a trophy!
-I cannot hold it myself.
I thought you were joking
when you first said it,
but it was legit heavy. Wow.
I would put that right above my fireplace.
[laughs] That was…
That was absolutely brilliant. Uh…
Listen, as we key in on this match, yes,
Jannik did so many things so well,
but so much of it was the setup, Tim.
We talked about it with the serve.
It wasn't just the pace,
but it was the placement as well.
His accuracy
was absolutely brilliant today.
[Tim] Yeah, absolutely.
I think with the quality of the returners
these days,
you can't just serve fast,
you've got to hit the corners.
And that was something
that Sinner did exceptionally well
mainly on the… on the first serve
but also the second serve
and… and this is where Sinner is showing
so much more skill
at the front of the court and…
and quite often,
we see this Alcaraz that comes out on top,
but tonight
it was all about Jannik Sinner.
[Prakash]
I see some elongated points here as well.
Laura, Carlos tried to mix it up,
a couple of drop shots,
a couple of backhands.
He tried to loop up,
but Sinner was just so forward moving.
It wasn't really a whole lot
he could try to employ.
[Laura] Yeah, we saw him throw in a couple
of successful drop shots.
But for me, it was more
that he didn't have the time
to even play them. And for drop shots,
most of the time,
you're trying to slow the pace down,
get underneath the ball.
And if you feel rushed and you feel
like you're playing your contact point
a little bit further
behind you than normal,
it's almost impossible
to try and go for it in the first place.
Um… So, yeah, it just felt like
it was Carlos trying to take a step back,
trying to elongate the rally.
We… We saw him throw
in the higher forehands at times.
And then Jannik… [laughs]
…started crossing the back of the line.
So, it's like
you've just run out of options.
Feli, you know what it is
to serve extremely well.
This gentleman, over 10,000 aces on tour.
His strike point seems to be
a bit better, isn't it, Jannik Sinner?
[Feliciano] His accuracy today was,
you know, through the roof
and it was very difficult,
you know, for Carlos to stay
in the match and… and to stay calm
and to find solutions, you know.
There's really nothing to do for him.
Thinking now about
what he could have done better, honestly,
I don't think there's anything
he could have done better.
But, you know, Sinner,
put a clinical performance,
-Mr. Henman, today.
-[Prakash] You like that word, don't you?
[Feliciano] I love it, absolutely.
[Tim] We don't-- I wouldn't necessarily
always think of Sinner
as being one of the great servers
in the game,
but when you see him come out
and hit the corners like that,
his variation was… was so good,
whether he was going out wide
on both boxes,
but, uh, you know,
this serve is a huge weapon.
[Prakash] Certainly seems
the pace has gone up on his serve.
The accuracy has gone up.
-You take a look at the numbers over here.
-[Laura] That's ridiculous.
[Prakash] That is crazy.
[Laura] 60% unreturned
against Carlos is ridiculous.
[Feliciano]
At one point, it was 73% unreturned…
-[Tim] Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah.
-…during the match.
[Tim] And… And the accuracy
within a couple of feet of the line,
That's where the big points are.
That's where, well,
I would say the break points are.
But Alcaraz didn't get
any break points tonight.
No, again, you don't need
to serve 150 out there.
You're serving as hard as Sinner is
with that kind of accuracy.
You're going to get
the job done every time.
Crucial juncture in that second set.
You saw in the beginning, Carlos started
to find a little bit of momentum.
But right about that seventh game
in the second set,
that's when Jannik Sinner made his move
and he tried to put
a little extra pressure on
inside the baseline here.
So, he was using positional advantage
as well…
[Tim] Yeah, because we talked all week
about how the ball can get up on you.
If you don't get it early at the top
of the bouncer on the way up,
then it can get very difficult.
And this was again Sinner showing
his foot speed
but showing how comfortably
he is at the back of the court
and then that return of serve,
the change of direction down the line,
and then finishing it off
with the good backhand volley.
That is someone who is confident,
who is brave,
who's getting out of his comfort zone
to play a big point,
perhaps how he's not accustomed to,
but it certainly paid off.
[Prakash] Moving forward
in their rivalry as well,
that kind of play from Sinner
is actually something
that'll put a little bit more fear
in Alcaraz because it's very proactive.
It's taking the play away from Alcaraz,
so perhaps now Carlos has to keep this
in mind and kind of rejigger and come back
-with something a bit more.
-That's the best part.
And, you know,
today probably felt easier
than on a different kind of indoor surface
or on a slower clay court, let's say.
But just to have them push each other,
to have the rivalry get closer.
You never want to see a rivalry
where the head-to-head
is super lopsided one way or the other.
So, the fact that they can keep,
you know, inspiring each other in a way
because it was like, after US Open,
Jannik knew he had to add some creativity,
and after Wimbledon, there was, you know,
a huge training block from Carlos
to try and beat Jannik, and so,
just that back and forth is gonna help
not just them but the rest of the tour
and, you know, continue to improve
as the season goes on.
As we look towards the end
of the match, Feli,
it seemed like an inevitability,
wasn't it?
Jannik was never really
in trouble on his serve,
so as he closed things out again,
not really too much trouble at all.
[Feliciano] No, I mean, he was very…
He's… He's struggling with the return,
Carlos, today.
He didn't find the timing.
He said here
in the interview that for him,
it was a bit weird
not to have a break point,
a single break point, you know,
throughout the whole match.
For him, that's also very difficult.
He's someone
that normally breaks, you know,
his opponent's serve a lot of times
during the matches,
but, uh, it's been-- as I said,
the clinical performance.
Nothing to say, I'm sure we're gonna see
multiple, you know, great matches
between those two and, uh,
as you said before,
also we're really blessed
that we have this beautiful rivalry
and of course, here,
Sinner was better today
but who knows what's gonna happen,
you know, in one month time
when they eventually come play in Turin.
Irrespective of the result,
you already sense the perspective
that Alcaraz has that he gives
his opponent, Sinner, you know,
a lot of credit, but he obviously is aware
of the opportunities ahead of him.
He's clearly number one in the race
but he wants to…
to make sure that he gets that,
uh, enormous achievement.
He's got the tour ending championships
in Turin.
So, uh, yes,
disappointed he will be tonight.
He's already looking ahead.
Tim, a quick word on Carlos with regards
to this surface moving forward to Turin.
He does like time.
We've seen it at Roland Garros,
slower courts to be able
to do what he wants to,
but he can be
quite a good fast court player
-if he just adjusts a few things as well.
-Oh, absolutely.
And I think that is another aspect
of these great champions.
They're always looking, uh,
for areas where they can improve.
But also if there is an aspect
that they struggle with,
they… they come up with solutions so.
Um… I… I think as was alluded to
in that conversation,
Sinner likes the indoor course.
Perhaps that does favor him
a little bit more
but then that's a nice challenge
for our crowds
that he'll want to, you know,
go to Turin,
perhaps in front of Sinner's home people
and get the job done.
Well, the good news is we got to see
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner play
yet another final year,
which has been absolutely brilliant.
The bad news is I… I…
I got to say goodbye to you guys…
-Can't believe it.
-…which I really don't want to do.
-So--
-Likewise.
-Thank you.
-Devastated already.
-[stutters]
-Don't make me cry.
I had absolutely so much fun
with you guys this week.
It's been just magnificent to watch
the absolute best of the best.
So, why don't we just make
a little promise here while we're here,
-and why… why don't we do this again?
-Absolutely.
-See you next year.
-We'll sign up for that.
-[laughs]
-Can't wait for that moment to come.
For Tim, Laura, Feli, Mark,
the rest of our magnificent team
behind the scenes as well,
we hope to see you very again soon.
Enjoy the Six King Slams.
[epic music playing]
[music concludes]
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01x03 - Final
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The world's top-ranked players take the court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a star-studded tennis showcase with ultimate bragging rights on the line.
The world's top-ranked players take the court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a star-studded tennis showcase with ultimate bragging rights on the line.