With Alcaraz, those people are clearly … us. All of us. Everyone. Todo el mundo. A natural showman, an entertainer like mother used to make, his most breathtaking shot of all came on the final point of the first set.

After Sinner hit what would have been a cannoning cross-court winner against just about any other player in the world, Alcaraz not only reached it in extremis, he controlled it, and with his back turned still dropped it back over the net on that pocket-handkerchief of space Sinner didn’t have covered and couldn’t get to. First set, Alcaraz, 6-4. And here was the entertainer. Cupping his hand to his ear, he was effectively saying to us, “Just how GREAT am I? Have you ever seen anything LIKE it?”

And the crowd responded with a throaty roar.

No, Carlos! Non!, Nein! Nyet! We’ve never seen anything like it. You are el hombre, the man!

Sinner is not like that. While some Italians might be famous for the ease with which they share their emotions, Sinner is cool, bordering on cold; emotionless, bordering on dead – with one exception. That was to his player’s box. His parents. His team, led by Australia’s Darren Cahill, who is his coach.

When struggling against Alcaraz, Sinner looked to his box. When he did something brilliant, he looked to his box, very occasionally clenching his fist.

Alcaraz looked to everyone’s box, and everyone there, with the crowd boasting the likes of Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Lleyton and Bec Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg, the Prince and Princess of Wales and two of their children – an entranced Princess Charlotte and an uncomfortable looking Prince George, obliged to sit in the hot sun in a suit and tie, though just twelve years old.

When Sinner took the next two sets, 6-4, 6-4, we all knew what was coming.

Of course Alcaraz would win the fourth going away to set up a classic fifth set, just like they fought in Paris.

But again, they demonstrated a capacity to surprise.

Sinner strengthened. Alcaraz struggled. The Italian went to a 5-4 lead, with his serve, up 40-0. Three match points.

Last time that happened, in Paris, Alcaraz stared them down, and went on to win the match. The crowd willed that to happen this time, too, and the chant went up: “Carlos! Carlos! Carlos!”

He lifted and held off the first match point. It’s happening again! It’s happening aga…

Oh. Sinner unleashed a serve down the T-bone that Alcaraz couldn’t return.

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It was victory for the Italian, to make 1-1 in majors, between them, and Sinner’s first Wimbledon victory. Now, he showed real emotion, even doing “a Pat Cash” to climb into the stands to embrace those in his box. I’m not sure if he noticed the rest of us, but we were all giving a sincere standing ovation to the two of them.

It felt like a great second chapter in what will be a long and enthralling novel.

Bravo.

Bravissimo, to the two of them. A new tennis age has begun, and it’s a beauty.