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Louise Thomas
Editor
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner raced to the airport after their thrilling battle in the China Open final and shared the same private jet to make it to the Shanghai Masters in time.
Alcaraz defeated Sinner in three hours and 21 minutes to win the Beijing title on Wednesday and arrived at the final with his bags already packed, with the Spaniard facing a tight turnaround ahead of Shanghai.
The 21-year-old is scheduled to face Shang Juncheng in the second round on Friday, having received a first-round bye. The main draw of the Shanghai Masters kicked off on Wednesday, the same day as the China Open final.
“The tennis schedule is so tight, but we have to get used to it, or I guess we have to,” Alcaraz said after arriving in Beijing in the early hours of Thursday morning. “Yesterday we finished 8:30, 9:00 pm, a three-hour match, and then I had no time to do anything else.
“I went to the club before the final with all the bags, because I knew that we had to run after the final to take the flight to come here
“We arrive at 4:00 am, just to be ready or just to have some sleep here in Shanghai, and woke up to get used to the conditions here and try to be ready for my first match.”
Alcaraz and Sinner were pictured in the same jet along with their respective teams as they made the two-hour flight from Beijing to Shanghai. Alcaraz came from a set down to defeat Sinner in a thrilling China Open win and win his first title since Wimbledon.
Alcaraz said he is feeling refreshed after a long summer, which saw him win the French Open and Wimbledon before reaching the final of the Olympics in Paris, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the gold medal match.
Alcaraz crashed out of the US Open in the second round but is now on a nine-match win streak after finding his form in the Davis Cup and Laver Cup and taking it into the China Open.
“I had a really good month of practice after the American swing. The Davis Cup and the Laver Cup helped me a lot to get the energy back, to get motivated again,” Alcaraz said.
“I love playing teams competition, the Davis Cup with the players, with their team, with the Spanish federation as well, all the people who are around just to help me to be better, and feeling great off the court as well, that is really important.
“The Laver Cup, same thing. Those competitions helped me a lot to get the joy back on the court, and being focused on what’s next. I came here to Asia with a lot of energy, enjoying every single second that I step on the court, and that for me it’s really important.”
