The blow takes place tonight in Flushing, amid exceptional security measures due to Donald Trump's presence: Sinner vs. Alcaraz is the fifth act of the season (1-3), the third consecutive in a Grand Slam final (1-1), the 15th overall (5-9). It's the crossroads on hard court after Carlos dominated the clay and Jannik mowed the grass. Since we're talking about Gen Z, it makes sense that the most challenging match is set on an American playground in Queens, at the base of the professional sports pyramid, between ring roads and shopping malls, in front of 23,771 unruly, paying spectators (sold out).

Two opposing worlds: Sinner-Alcaraz, the new record-breaking rivalry

Tennis is them, the wire-like Italian and the flexible Spaniard, Jannik destroys the ball and Carlitos creates shots, without thanatos there would be no eros, without yin there would be no yang : Sinner and Alcaraz fit perfectly into the great puzzle of historical rivalries, those who feared that after the Big Three the felt ball would stop bouncing are served. The isosceles triangle, for now, does not include a third side: if Harry Potter had not been fooled by Djokovic in Australia, they would have played all four Major finals, but in Melbourne a bug crept into the system—Sascha Zverev is the emblem of the failure of the Next Gen, the middle ground—and the record (four out of four) belongs to Sinner, who enters the club of Major finalists in the calendar year together with Rod Laver (‘62 and ‘69, the years of the Grand Slams between amateurism and the Open era), Roger Federer (2006, 2007, 2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015, 2021, 2023). These are the comparisons, very lofty, there is no escaping them. Sinner is the evolution of the Djoker and Alcaraz is the happy living reincarnation of the Swiss master, plus a splash of Djokerian athleticism, all in a modern version, with the help of materials that had not been invented once upon a time, such as shoes that allow these phenomena to slide on hard surfaces, stuff that in Panatta's time would have broken your ankle.

The third wheel doesn't exist because Jannik and Carlos closed themselves in their waterproof bubble, in New York (2022 quarterfinals) their dualism exploded: from that moment on, those who tried to keep up got lost along the way (Zverev, Rune), broke inside (Medvedev) or outside (Shelton, Draper). On the bends towards the final, Sinner suffered: he dropped a set to Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime, two players who accepted the exchange with the better player temporarily deprived of the weapon of service, forced to ask for the intervention of the physiotherapist in the semifinal (I felt a pull after a serve at 4-3 in the second set, the treatment helped me; then I didn't feel anything anymore and went back to serving at normal speed. Nothing to worry about), while the better player sailed along without losing a set (like Federer in 2015), practical and essential in the juncture with Djokovic; A couple of frills aside, this was Carlitos' most mature match this year. I'm working hard to improve my consistency, to avoid too many ups and downs during the match," he said."I'm proud of myself.

Wouldn't you prefer someone else on the court today? We asked them both the day before. They said no. I'm happy to be playing against the best tennis player in the world—Sinner's opinion—and I say that because of the way he's playing in New York. He's more solid, his serve has significant percentages, while mine isn't where I'd like it to be. The first time, here at the US Open, we were young and only focused on hitting hard: now tactics also come into play, things get complicated. Alcaraz's response, promising a new haircut if he wins: I won't make the same mistakes as Wimbledon, every match against Jannik allows me to grow. When you know an opponent so well, the details make the difference.

Yes, the details. Carlitos's comeback against the laws of physics that reopened the Paris final, Jannik's serve-forehand combination that closed the London final. The two lights of tennis tower over those of Broadway. The show, no matter what happens, is here.