U.S. Open final: Carlos Alcaraz surges past Jannik Sinner to reclaim world No. 1 ranking
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FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the U.S. Open men’s final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Sunday.
The No. 2 seed prevailed over the No. 1 seed in a fast-paced, tactically intriguing match, ultimately decided by Alcaraz’s superiority on the serve and forehand, and his ability to change tempo in rallies and disrupt Sinner’s rhythm.
It is Alcaraz’s sixth Grand Slam title and his second at the U.S. Open, following his win in 2022. The result takes him back to No. 1 in the world, ending Sinner’s 65-week stay at the top of the tennis world rankings.
The Athletic’s writers, Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman, analyze the final and what it means for tennis.
How did Alcaraz make such a fast start?
Alcaraz has evolved at this U.S. Open. He has been all business from the start, and he was once again Sunday afternoon.
Ever since he burst to the top of the sport four years ago, it has been pretty clear that the only thing that can stop Alcaraz is Alcaraz. Even top-level Sinner is one click below top-level Alcaraz, and the Spaniard, who has been rolling since the Cincinnati Open, entered Arthur Ashe Stadium in full flow. Alcaraz is quite a sight when he is on his toes and feeling the ball, and Sinner had no answer to it through the first eight games.
The first game, which brought Alcaraz his first break of serve, included two massive forehands that sent Sinner scrambling. There was a silly backhand half-volley off his shoelaces, and another on his forehand side at full stretch. There are tells when Alcaraz is feeling his tennis, and the forehand firing early is one of them; his employment of a fake drop shot that turns into a forehand slice is another, and he was pulling that out from the jump too.
By early in the second set, he had 12 winners against just 6 unforced errors. Alcaraz was sending a message to Sinner. He wasn’t going to be giving anything away, and if Sinner had any hopes of competing he was going to have to take the match to and from Alcaraz. That’s what happened in the second set, but by the third Alcaraz had rediscovered his mojo and Sinner had no answer to it.
This was not just a big final performance. Alcaraz came into the match without having dropped a set in the tournament, on a run of 35 wins in 36 matches and eight finals. The test for Sinner was whether he could find the level to push him off a boil that has been roiling for months now. He finally did in the fourth game of the second set, when he started jumping into his backhand and not letting the height and depth of Alcaraz’s strokes push him off the baseline.
The move stole some time from Alcaraz, something no one else had been able to do in New York. From there the question became whether Alcaraz could find the next level after Sinner had adjusted to meet his. He could, rebounding from losing the second set to race through the third and toward the title.
— Matt Futterman
The fundamental shot that gave Alcaraz the edge
Both of these players have destructive, world-class forehands, but in the early stages of Sunday’s final, only one was firing.
Sinner made four forehand errors in the first game alone, two unforced, to give up an early break that he never recovered. He ended the set with five unforced errors on that wing, hitting just two winners with it.
Alcaraz meanwhile was giving a forehand masterclass. It wasn’t just that he was pinning Sinner back with it in rallies and smacking away winners, with eight in the first set alone. He was also changing how he used it, pulling out drop shots and the fake drop shot that signaled his comfort level. That was a favorite shot of Roger Federer, and even he, the owner of one of the finest forehands the sport has ever seen, would have been impressed with what Alcaraz was producing.
Sinner, normally so deadly on the forehand side, looked underpowered and was struggling to punch holes with it. Even his running forehand, which he retooled ahead of Wimbledon after Alcaraz exploited it in Paris, was not doing any damage.
Carlos Alcaraz’s forehand was devastating from the start against Jannik Sinner. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
He managed to turn the tables in the second set, producing a howitzer crosscourt that helped him pick up the early break, but by the third set it was misfiring again. Sinner missed a sitter wide to be broken straight away, and put another one wide to give up the double break. While Alcaraz had got back to lacing winners crosscourt with his forehand.
There were two key individual battlegrounds in this match: forehand and serve. Alcaraz had the edge in this one — and the other.
— Charlie Eccleshare
How Sinner’s first-serve issues came home to roost in the final
Sinner’s serve had not been at its usual potency all tournament. Against Félix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal, during which he was hampered by a stomach issue, Sinner survived a very ropey serving day with the help of a few costly misses at big moments by his opponent.
Against Alcaraz, he was either going to have improve it considerably or be punished. Unfortunately for Sinner, it was latter.
In their Wimbledon final two months ago, Sinner didn’t drop his serve in the last three sets. He dropped it immediately here and was under pressure on it throughout. Winners off the return, known as “plus-one” shots and usually a Sinner staple, were almost non-existent.
And where at Wimbledon Sinner won 75 percent of his first-serve points and 64 percent on his second serve, those numbers were down at 69 and 48 percent on Sunday. In keeping with some of his earlier rounds, like against Denis Shapovalov and Lorenzo Musetti, where his second-serve-points won percentage was down at 50 and 52 percent respectively. On Sunday, he was getting his first serve in only 48 percent of the time, his lowest of the tournament.
Part of that was down to the pressure Alcaraz was exerting, and it made it much harder for Sinner to take control of the match. And in a role-reversal from Wimbledon, it was Alcaraz who was using his serve to dominate — as he had done all tournament. Alcaraz may have been broken for only the third time all fortnight in the third set, but he won 83 percent of his first-serve points and banged down 10 aces in what was another extremely solid serving display.
— Charlie Eccleshare
The tactical mastery that helped Alcaraz take back over the match
The Alcaraz of the first set was smacking winners and flowing into the court, but he was also displaying another kind of variety. Alcaraz’s ability to change height, speed and spin from the baseline is less flashy than his drop shots and volleys, but against the Italian, who thrives on rhythm and even tempo from the baseline, it is spectacularly effective.
Players with less ability than Alcaraz have exploited that vulnerability this year. Grigor Dimitrov went two sets up on Sinner at Wimbledon by arcing slices through the court and whipping the lifted balls that came back for winners, while Denis Shapovalov used similar tactics to go toe to toe with the Italian last week.
In the opening set, Alcaraz was in full flight, using his crush-and-rush returns on second serves, revving forehands high up into the air to jump them out of Sinner’s strike zone and then flattening them through the court.
In the second, Alcaraz was dragged into a bit of a slugfest from the baseline, which suited Sinner just fine, especially on what was essentially an indoor court with the elements taken out of the equation.
By the third, Alcaraz had returned to the tactic that had served him so well in the opener. The drop shot wasn’t working especially well, but the slice was, taking Sinner out of his rhythm and drawing errors.
Like any matchup, this rivalry normally comes down to who can get the match to be played on their terms. On Sunday, that was Alcaraz.
— Charlie Eccleshare
What it means for the world No. 1 ranking
About nine months ago in this city, Alcaraz had one of those brief moments when he stops being unrelentingly polite to his rival.
Sinner had been No. 1 all year. He was 73-3 against every tennis player not named Alcaraz, but he was 0-3 against the only player who really matters to him in the sport.
Alcaraz was asked if he ever gives Sinner a hard time about this. No, Alcaraz said, “but my friends think it’s hilarious.”
Earlier this year, Sinner missed three months of tennis between the Australian and Italian Open while serving an anti-doping suspension. In that time, Alcaraz hadn’t really started his roll to eight finals in a row, and a couple of early losses meant that Sinner still sat atop of the world rankings.
But the Spaniard’s surge through this summer — even including the Wimbledon final defeat — earned him the chance to unseat Sinner at the U.S. Open. As he was during their classic match in 2022, Alcaraz was finally playing for No. 1 ranking. The equation was simple. Alcaraz vs. Sinner. Whoever gets further wins the title.
That magnitude — and their separation from the rest of the field — lent the trajectory of the entire tournament an air of inevitability. Their meeting in the final was the most fitting way to settle things.
Alcaraz surely felt that way. Earlier in the week, he said in a news conference that playing for the No. 1 ranking added meaning to the tournament.
He played like it did on Sunday.
— Matt Futterman
What did Carlos Alcaraz say after the final?
“I want to start with Jannik. It is unbelievable what you have done this season. You show a great level at every tournament. I see you more than my family and it’s great to share the court and the locker room with you. You improve every day working with your team, so congratulations to you and it was a great performance this whole tournament.
“To my team and family: I’m lucky to have you. You give so much hard work to make me better. I’m really proud of the people I have around me. Thank you so much. This achievement is thanks to you. I love you all.”
What did Jannik Sinner say after the final?
“I would like to start with Carlos and his team. They are doing amazing and I know there was a lot of hard work behind this performance. He was better than me so congrats.
“To my team, thank you for supporting me and understanding me. And for working hard. It has been an incredible season with a lot of big stages and matches. I’m super happy to share this moment with you and my family and all the people I love.
“I tried my best today. I couldn’t do more.”
(Top photo: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)