NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 9, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Carlos Alcaraz is back in the winner’s circle at the US Open – and on top of the ATP Rankings, too. On Sunday afternoon inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the roof closed due to an earlier rain, Alcaraz beat his friend and rival Jannik Sinner with arguably the most refined performance of his young career to earn his sixth Grand Slam title.
With his second US Open title secured, after decisively defeating Sinner, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, in a brisk two hours and 42 minutes – compared to their epic five-set, 5-plus-hour French Open title match won by the Spaniard after Sinner squandered three championship points last June – Alcaraz became the youngest player since Bjorn Borg in 1978 to capture six Grand Slam men’s singles titles in the Open Era.
Adding his name a second time! ✌️ pic.twitter.com/Et3KyAtwSC
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2025
The 22-year-old Alcaraz also returns to the World No. 1 ranking for the first time since September 2023, adding to his 36 weeks at the top that he previously earned in 2022-23.
“It was one of the first goals that I had during the season, to try to recover the No. 1 as soon as possible or end the year at No. 1,” Alcaraz said during his champion’s news conference Sunday evening, a couple of hours after beat Sinner. “… It is a dream. Doing it the same day as getting another Grand Slam feels even better. It’s everything I’m working for, and I’m really happy to be able to live these experiences.”
Officially official for Carlitos ☝️ pic.twitter.com/D9mLnMptl2
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2025
Alcaraz described winning his 2025 US Open title run as the best tournament of his career. It was certainly an efficient one. After all, he dropped just one set in his seven matches – and it occured in the final against Sinner. He also lost his serve just three times during the entire New York fortnight.
“I feel like this is the best tournament [of my career],” Alcaraz said. “Since the first rounds to the end of the tournament, the best tournament so far that I have ever played. The consistency of my level during the whole tournament has been really, really high, which I’m really proud of, because it’s something that I’ve been working on, to be really consistent. I think this tournament I saw that I can play really consistent.”
En route to collecting seven straight victories, as well as 2000 ATP points and a hefty $5 million (USD) paycheck, Alcaraz defeated Reilly Opelka, Mattia Bellucci, No. 32 seed Luciano Darderi, Arthur Rinderknech, No. 20 seed Jiri Lehecka, No. 7 seed Novak Djokovic and defending champion and top seed Sinner.
Striking that champion pose pic.twitter.com/4zitFdwjWX
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2025
On Monday, Alcaraz withdrew from Spain’s Davis Cup second-round qualifiers in Valencia, Sept. 12-13, due to fatigue. This will give him more time to prepare for the Laver Cup next week in San Francisco, Calif., which takes place Sept. 19-21. He will arrive with a 13-match winning streak. He now owns more titles (7) than losses (6) in 2025.
In a year in which Alcaraz and Sinner have defined success on the tennis court – they became the first duo in the Open Era to meet in three Grand Slam finals in a single season – the Spaniard went 2-1 against Sinner by also winning the French Open in June before losing the Wimbledon final to him in July. Overall, Alcaraz is 10-5 against the 24-year-old Italian. He has shown he and his team are capable of crafting and executing a winning game plan against Sinner.
Meanwhile, as Alcaraz soaked in the glory of his latest major victory, Sinner’s 65-week reign as the top-ranked men’s player in the world ended as he dropped to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, despite playing in all four major finals – and winning two of them.
These two pic.twitter.com/6X7CKY75YV
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2025
Although he lost just four sets the entire US Open – and after putting together a 27-match match winning streak on hard courts at Grand Slam-level that dated back to 2023 – Sinner spoke in his post-match news conference Sunday evening that he wasn’t satisfied. He wondered how he could tinker his game – make changes with a sense of resolve to rebuild – to be more competitive against Alcaraz and less predictable. After all, he’s lost seven of their past eight meetings – including four straight hard-court encounters. Alcaraz outplayed Sinner and finished with double the amount of winners, 42 to 21.
“I was very predictable today on court,” Sinner said. “He did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not. That’s definitely [what] we are going to work on. I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match that I will play against him.
“I feel like depends how you arrive to play against Carlos,” Sinner added. “One thing is when the scoreline, you know, matches before are comfortable, but you always do the same things, like I did, for example, during this tournament. I didn’t make one serve-volley, didn’t use a lot of drop shots, and then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos where you have to go out of the comfort zone.
“So I’m going to aim to, you now, maybe even losing some matches from now on but trying to do some changes from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day, that’s my main goal.”
Jannik Sinner says he needs to become more unpredictable to become a better tennis player:
“I was very predictable on court today. He changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s gonna be on me if I want to make changes or not. We’re definitely gonna work… pic.twitter.com/eF9eeofyez
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 7, 2025
By the numbers
Carlos Alcaraz improved his 2025 win-loss record to 61-6 with his US Open title victory over Jannik Sinner, who fell to 37-5. Sinner’s 2,590 points trail ATP Points leader, Alcaraz, by 760 points.
“Quotable …”
“He has improved. I felt like [he] was a bit cleaner today. The things I did well in London [at Wimbledon], he did better today. That’s [the] result. I felt like he was doing everything slightly better today, especially serving, both sides, both swings very clean.
“I think that’s it, I give lots of credit to him, because he handled the situation better than I did. He raised his level when he had to. I’m still proud of myself, about the season I’m playing and making, but yeah, he played better than me today.”
– Jannik Sinner of Italy, who was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in the US Open men’s singles final, during his post-match news conference Sunday evening.
