As men’s tennis has entered a new dawn, an undeniable truth has remained about the two best players in the world. From week to week, Jannik Sinner has mostly been unbeatable. But when Carlos Alcaraz finds his top level, no one, including Sinner, can stop him. In a US Open final that saw Alcaraz and Sinner face each other for the title in a third consecutive grand slam, the Spaniard completed his best-ever performance across a major tournament to demolish his rival, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reclaim the World No 1 ranking.
Even the presence of Donald Trump, which caused the final to be delayed and forced it to start in front of thousands of empty seats as fans waited to pass through additional security checks outside, could not take the attention away from Alcaraz when he hit his spellbinding best. Eight weeks on from Sinner’s win over Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz ended the Italian’s winning run at the hard-court grand slams at 27 matches, revenge served with a display of thumping serves and brilliant shot-making. Sinner was subdued, but Alcaraz was too good: with his sixth win over his rival in their last seven meetings.
And so it is fitting that Alcaraz regains the World No 1 ranking for the first time since September 2023, knocking Sinner off top spot after 65 consecutive weeks. The Spaniard remains on a trajectory towards being considered among one of the greatest players of all time, becoming the second-youngest man to reach six grand slam titles, after Bjorn Borg, at the age of 22. Alcaraz becomes just the fourth man in the Open era to win multiple titles on the three different surfaces, with two at the US Open, the French Open and Wimbledon. He will head to the Australian Open in January attempting to complete the career grand slam.
Alcaraz and Sinner were the first men to meet in three grand slam finals in a row in the Open era, and in their fifth final in a row overall, but a different Alcaraz had arrived in New York. As if determined to bounce back from his first grand slam final defeat at Wimbledon, Alcaraz looked more focused and locked-in from the start. He found consistency, and without as many ups-and-downs in his matches. His accidental buzz-cut received on the day before the US Open proved fitting as he rolled through the draw and towards an inevitable rematch with Sinner.
Given the way Alcaraz was playing, it remains a curiosity that the player he has a mental block over is the diminishing force of Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz had been nervous and hesitant in defeating the 38-year-old in his semi-final on Friday – but he has no such problems against Sinner. He took to the Arthur Ashe Stadium following the 30-minute delay and immediately found the level described by his quarter-final opponent Jiri Lehecka as “grand slam Carlos”.
He broke Sinner in the opening game of the match, an opening eight-minute tussle that swung in Alcaraz’s direction with a series of vicious forehand blows that sparked the final into life, the last of which reached over 100mph. The inspiration flowed from Alcaraz from there, with a disguised forehand pass faked from a drop shot and a sumptuous pick-up volley the pick of a dazzling array of 10 winners to two unforced errors in the first set alone .
Sinner, who required a medical timeout of an abdominal injury in his semi-final victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime, looked rushed and struggled on his second-serve, with Alcaraz thundering the returns. With Alcaraz faultless on his booming serve, which he highlighted as his biggest improvement before his seventh grand slam final, Sinner made far too many errors for the first set to be competitive.
A potential turning point came when Sinner faced a break point right at the start of the second set. Alcaraz could not get his return in play and Sinner began to claw his way back. After ending the run of Alcaraz points on serve, Sinner finally won an exchange that had the crowd on its feet as he swatted a forehand winner crosscourt, with a previously unflappable Alcaraz losing his serve for just the third time at the tournament with a forehand long.
Alcaraz had lost three points on serve in the first set but lost four in a row to find himself behind. Sinner used the shift in momentum as the timing of his forehand returned. From shaking his head at the quality of Alcaraz’s play, the steel of Sinner’s determined fist-pumps indicated he had arrived. After winning a 19-shot rally with a flying backhand volley, Sinner levelled the match, the first set Alcaraz had dropped all tournament after 19 won in a row.
But no man had ever won the US Open without dropping a set. Alcaraz would have expected a response from Sinner but managed to turn the match around in a key couple of games at the start of the third. Sinner whacked a ball into the air in frustration after pushing a forehand wide to lose his serve, but then had a chance on 0-30 in the next game. Alcaraz pulled out another extraordinary, improvised shot, sending an overhead from behind the baseline onto the line and spinning out of his reach.
It was a magic moment that launched Alcaraz into a streak that took the set and match away from Sinner, who continued to show his irritation by bouncing his racket off the court. The break was celebrated by Alcaraz pointing to his ear after defending his backhand corner and then advancing into the net to put away the volley. Alcaraz broke Sinner for the fourth time in the match – as many times as the Italian had lost serve through the tournament – and then jammed Sinner with a body serve to win a landslide set.
Sinner immediately faced more pressure on serve at the start of the third set, saving a second break point to win a scrambling point and denying Alcaraz as he looked to make a sensational angled pick-up. He went again, always determined to pull off his greatest trick yet, denying Sinner a certain point with another magnificent reach. Sinner, always having to play the extra shot, slumped after volleying wide, a double-fault bringing up break point and a poor error handing Alcaraz the advantage.
As Alcaraz served for the title, Sinner was forced into two misses that you would not see against any other player in the world. In a desperate attempt to hold on, Sinner saved the second of two match points with a backhand winner. But there no reverse of Paris, where Alcaraz saved three match points to defeat Sinner in five sets. Alcaraz found his serve, slamming an ace out wide on the third match point. He broke into a wide smile, laughing in disbelief. There is no one like him, and Sinner knows that more than anyone.
