Carlos Alcaraz captures sixth Slam and second US Open title, dethrones No. 1 Jannik Sinner 

NEW YORK—Carlos Alcaraz conquers the concrete jungle for the first time since 2022, capturing his first hard-court major title in three years with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over defending champion Jannik Sinner at the 2025 US Open on Sunday.

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In a third straight final between the world’s Top 2 players, Alcaraz won two out of three against Sinner in 2025, adding the US Open trophy to his Roland Garros title defense for a grand total of six major victories after two hours and 42 minutes beneath the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof.

Alcaraz also ends Sinner’s 65-week reign atop the ATP rankings, returning to the top spot for the first time since September 2023.

Alcaraz and Sinner have become the preeminent rival of the modern men’s game, 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic calling the duo “just too good” after losing to the former in the semifinals on Friday.

“They seem to have very good team, very good strategy of training and approach to the tennis world. The results are a testament to that,” said Djokovic, a four-time US Open champion.

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Alcaraz, who made his Grand Slam breakthrough at this very tournament back in 2022, scored a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win in a battle of former world No. 1s to roar into his second US Open final—and his first without dropping a set. The 22-year-old Spaniard rode a 12-match winning streak into the championship match after shaking off the loss of his Wimbledon title by taking home his first Cincinnati Open win, defeating an ailing Sinner in the final.

Illness aside, Sinner has maintained the dominant form that took him to his first two major titles in 2024, defending his Australian Open win and dethroning Alcaraz at Wimbledon for his first major away from hard courts.

While Sinner came to the Open under a cloud when he was forced to withdraw from the revamped mixed doubles tournament, he took the court for singles in fine form, dropping just one set en route to the semifinals. Once there, he navigated four tricky sets against a resurgent Félix Auger-Aliassime, defeating the 2021 semifinalist to reach his fourth major final of the season.

Though the 24-year-old Italian has enjoyed an uninterrupted reign atop the ATP rankings—racking up 65 consecutive weeks since his June 2024 accession—Alcaraz has remained his closest rival, trailing the Spaniard 5-9 in their head-to-head.

Sinner snapped a five-match losing streak to Alcaraz at Wimbledon but fell behind early in their US Open rematch, Alcaraz winning a marathon first game to open the delayed final with a break. Alcaraz would continue pressuring the Sinner serve, winning just under half of return points played in the first set to claim a second break and claim a one-set lead at love.

The second set nearly began like the first when Alcaraz engineered an early break point, but Sinner saved it and flipped the script on his rival three games later, passing Alcaraz at net for a love-break and subsequently held to build a 5-2 lead of his own.

After striking just two unforced errors in the opening set, Alcaraz struggled for consistency in the second, striking 11 errors to five winners, but nonetheless held on to force Sinner to serve for it out. Sinner stepped to the line and did just that, outrallying Alcaraz and earning two set points, converting the first when Alcaraz erred long off a forehand putaway.

Alcaraz righted the ship in a major way in the third set, racing out to a 5-0 lead with helped from a cleaned-up ground game of nine winners to two errors.

Sinner snuck in a crucial hold, but otherwise it was all Alcaraz and the No. 2 seed secured a two-sets-to-one lead in just under two hours.

Under fire early in the fourth, Sinner saved two break points in the opening game—one with an audacious foray to net—but Alcaraz was undaunted, showing off some remarkable defense and pulling off a 31st winner of the match as star athlete Steph Curry looked on.

Alcaraz kept pressing and earned another break point on the Sinner serve, converting off another forehand miss from the Italian and consolidating for 4-2, putting himself in touching distance of the title.

Serving to stay in the match two games later at 3-5, Sinner put down a brave hold but Alcaraz matched his rival's firepower when it came time to serve for the title. He landed a 79 mile-per-hour forehand winner to take a 30-0 lead and set up two championship points by drawing Sinner to net with a drop shot.

In a near-reversal of the Roland Garros final—where Alcaraz roared back from match points down against Sinner—Sinner saved back-to-back championship points with some stellar play off the ground. But Alcaraz earned a third and made no mistake to clinch his second US Open triumph, squatting to the ground in disbelief.

With Sunday's win, Alcaraz not only improves to 10-5 vs. Sinner and returns to No. 1, but he'll also take home a whopping $5 million dollars in prize money.