NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz reasserted his superiority over Jannik Sinner with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory Sunday in the U.S. Open final for his second trophy at Flushing Meadows and sixth overall at a major. This was the third Grand Slam tournament in a row where these elite, young rivals met to decide the champion.
The match’s start was delayed for about a half-hour while thousands of fans were stuck outside Arthur Ashe Stadium while going through extra security because President Donald Trump sat in a sponsor’s suite. Perhaps the extra wait got the No. 1-seeded Sinner, who was the defending champion.
Right from the beginning, under a closed roof because of rain earlier in the day, No. 2 Alcaraz outplayed Sinner, reversing the result from when they played for Wimbledon’s title less than two months ago.
Alcaraz’s leads over Sinner are now 10-5 in their head-to-head series, 6-4 in major trophies, and 2-1 in U.S. Open championships. Plus, this 2-hour, 42-minute win allowed Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, to take away the No. 1 ranking from Sinner, a 24-year-old from Italy.
This hard-court matchup followed Alcaraz’s victory over Sinner after erasing a trio of match points on the French Open’s red clay in June, and Sinner’s victory over Alcaraz on Wimbledon’s grass in July.
“I’m seeing you more than my family,” Alcaraz joked, eliciting a grin from Sinner. “It’s great to share the court, to share the locker rooms, everything.”
Sunday’s showdown represented the first time in tennis history that the same two men played each other in three consecutive Slam finals within a single season.
“You were better than me,” Sinner told Alcaraz. “I tried my best today. I couldn’t do more.”
Truth is, these two guys are so, so much better than the rest of men’s tennis at the moment. Their traits are unique, their strengths multiple, their games untouchable at the moment.
Except, of course, against the other.
They have combined to collect the past eight Slam trophies, and 10 of 13. Novak Djokovic, whom Alcaraz eliminated on Friday, took the other three in that span.
Both Sinner, who had won his past 27 hard-court matches at majors, and Alcaraz offered glimpses of why they are so good, although it was rare that both were at their best simultaneously.
Alcaraz, who ended up with twice as many winners, 42-21, was superb in the first, third and fourth sets; Sinner’s top efforts arrived in the second.
Since the start of the 2024 U.S. Open, Sinner had won 33 of 34 matches at the majors; Sunday was his fifth straight final at those events. The loss? To Alcaraz at Roland-Garros.
Indeed, over the last two seasons, Sinner is now 1-7 against Alcaraz — and 109-4 against everyone else.
Alcaraz, meanwhile, has won 37 of 38 contests since May. The loss? To Sinner at the All England Club, Alcaraz’s lone defeat in a Slam final.
In 2025, Alcaraz now has more titles (a tour-leading seven) than losses (his record is 61-6, also the best in men’s tennis).
During his defeat at Wimbledon, Alcaraz was caught by a camera telling his team in Spanish: “From the back of the court, he’s much better than me.”
Perhaps that’s why Alcaraz was aggressive Sunday with his sledgehammer of a forehand — and on-target, too. Whenever even the smallest opening presented itself, Alcaraz tried to barge on through with that shot, going big early in points, which worked, either for an outright winner or forcing mistakes from Sinner.
Sinner had dropped a total of just one service game in his three matches leading into the final, but he did deal with an abdominal muscle issue in his semifinal. Sinner and one of his coaches said it was nothing serious, which might be right, but Alcaraz broke right away Sunday and five times in all.
To counteract the forehand effectiveness, Sinner made a tactical switch, going increasingly after Alcaraz’s backhand when possible.
Paid off. Briefly.
In the first set and third set, Alcaraz’s ratios were 11 winners to two unforced errors. Truly remarkable. In the second, those numbers swung the other way: five winners, 11 unforced errors.
An hour and 20 minutes in, it was a set apiece, after Alcaraz ceded one for the first time all tournament, allowing Neale Fraser to retain his distinction as the most recent man to win every set he played at the event — in 1960.
As Sinner worked his way into things, he would celebrate points by pumping a fist toward the box where his coaches and others, including Olympic champion ski racer Lindsey Vonn, were seated.
Ah, but it was Alcaraz who seemed to have more ticket-buyers on his side.
They regaled him with standing ovations. For one particularly magical volley at a hard-to-believe angle struck just before the ball hit the court — even Alcaraz himself liked that one, saying “Wow!” and breaking into a wide grin. For one special overhead smash to a corner with the tailing movement of a firefly.
And so on.
Sinner, needless to say, wasn’t as pleased by those sorts of strokes.
He bounced his racket off the ground and caught it after one lost point. He exhaled and shook his head after another.
Sinner simply doesn’t see that sort of stuff from anyone else.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
