Paolo Bertolucci goes out on a limb in predictions about Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Paolo Bertolucci commented in the Gazzetta dello Sport on the’outcome of the Us Open draws: “It seems to me that the draw board, which should lead to yet another final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, is well balanced. I don&#8217t see many pitfalls, but it&#8217s still a two-week tour, with certain obstacles, but largely within the reach of the top two players in the world”.

“The grid is balanced for the seeded players: there could be Shelton in the quarters to give some apprehension to Alcaraz before the final stages, or the insidious Paul or Bublik in the round of 16 for Sinner, also considering the Halle precedent, with that un-predictable defeat of Jannik against the Kazakh. They are unpredictable players on a technical and tactical level, but fearsome only when playing 2 out of 3 sets: on the 3 out of 5 sets the top two in the ranking always have the possibility of the long distance, which allows them to recover from a reduced gear start”.

“Further on, Sinner could have Zverev in the semifinals, while Alcaraz would wait for one of Fritz, Rune or Djokovic: these are names of substance, but when they have met one of the top two in the world they have come out with broken bones. To beat them they have to be on a great day and hope that Jannik or Carlos are not 100 percent: then there would be match”.

“Djokovic, then, now plays basically only the Slams, in London and Paris he has shown that he can have his say in experience and skill and I would not be surprised to find him in the quarters: against Alcaraz and Sinner, however, he ends up raising the white flag because he has an identity card with numbers that cannot be erased”,

he concluded.