Jannik Sinner says after his US Open loss he wants to be less predictable against Carlos Alcaraz

NEW YORK AP Not long after his loss in the U S Open final on Sunday Jannik Sinner already was thinking about how he can become a better player and how he can more frequently beat his only true rival at the top of men s tennis Carlos Alcaraz In sum Sinner explained that he wants to figure out a way to present the sort of variety in his match that Alcaraz displayed during his - - - - conquest at Arthur Ashe Stadium a conclusion that ended Sinner s reign as the champion at Flushing Meadows and also took away his No ranking The present day there were two or three things that weren t where I longed them to be I was too predictable in my play in the current era Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone noted Sinner a -year-old Italian Practice differently Accept maybe that you might lose a few matches in various tournaments because you try something new This is how I can become more of a complete performer let s say Sinner lamented a limited particular issues Sunday His first-serve accuracy which was just contributing to break points for his opponent five of which were converted His returning which produced just one break point all match His lack of serve-and-volleying attempts there were zero Sinner announced with a sigh that those are the sorts of little things that if worked on in other matches would give you the confidence to do when you are under pressure something he noted Alcaraz is better equipped to do At least Sinner could crack a joke in the aftermath of this defeat saying with a chuckle that while he anticipates switching things up no one should expect him to show up at the Beijing Open in late September as a left-hander It s worth mentioning various stats that make up Sinner s record over the last two seasons This was his fifth consecutive final at a Grand Slam tournament dating to his title at the U S Open His win-loss mark in those five events is - with both losses to Alcaraz in the final at the French Open in June on red clay and then Sunday s on a hard court That stretch also includes a win over Alcaraz for Sinner in the Wimbledon final on a grass court in July Go back to the start of last year and Sinner is - against Alcaraz while going - against every other foe combined Sinner entered Sunday having won consecutive hard-court contests at majors only Roger Federer with a -match run ever has done better I felt like he was doing everything slightly better this day especially serving I give lots of credit to him because he handled the situation better than I did Sinner noted He raised his level when he had to I m still proud of myself about the season I m having but he played better than me this day Howard Fendrich has been the AP s tennis writer since Find his stories here https apnews com author howard-fendrich More AP tennis https apnews com hub tennis Source