Carlos Alcaraz came from a set down to beat Jannik Sinner in a scintillating China Open final. The Spaniard took sweet revenge on his rival after coming out on the losing side against him last year in Beijing.

It was straightforward for Sinner in the China Open semi-finals 12 months ago as he dispatched Alcaraz in straight sets. This time round it was a tight, tense, three-hour affair.

And Sinner not only has to deal with the anguish of suffering his first competitive defeat since early August, but also an apparent knee issue, as he was worryingly seen touching his right leg in discomfort during the first set.

Sinner was fancied coming into Wednesday’s showdown, having won the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open in his last two outings while Alcaraz struggled in both tournaments. But it was the second seed who came flying out of the blocks, leaving Sinner flustered under a barrage of early pressure.

The world No 1 went 0-40 down in his very first service game before saving his skin, but he was soon trailing 4-1 after an Alcaraz break.

Sinner was clinging on by his fingernails in a one-sided first hour, but the fact he hung in there paid off massively when Alcaraz slipped up.

Producing two massive forehands at 5-3 down, Sinner broke back and went on to force a nail-biting tiebreak which ultimately swung his way.

The second set took on a more predictable rhythm and it wasn’t until the scores were tied up at 4-4 that a break point was converted.

Alcaraz was the player to do it, kicking on from an epic service game which went to deuce eight times by breaking Sinner and serving out set two to take it 6-4.

The thousands who piled into the National Tennis Center were treated to more blockbuster points during the third set, in which Alcaraz quickly went a break up.

All the momentum was with the 21-year-old, who had won five of the last six games at that stage of the contest. Sinner threw a spanner in the works with a vital break back to level up at 4-4, but Alcaraz found something extra late in the match to clinch the title via a final-set tiebreak.

And it was a finale in keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the match, as Alcaraz recovered from three points down to win the next seven in a row and cap off a breathless clash between two competitors at the top of their game.