In US Open defeat, Jannik Sinner faces his shortcomings

NEW YORK–Jannik Sinner’s remarkable consistency, seamless technique, and phlegmatic nature made it all too easy to accuse him of being a tennis bot, especially during this hard-court season in which he carried a 27-match winning streak at Grand Slams into Sunday’s final against Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open.

Over the course of the ensuing, surprisingly brief two-hour and 44-minute clash in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sinner exposed that insult for what it is: simplistic, mean-spirited, dangerously close to de-humanizing.

The repudiation came at a high cost, though: a stinging loss to his nemesis 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Read more: Service and a smile: How Carlos Alcaraz conquered Jannik Sinner at the 2025 US Open

Sinner had just one break-point in the match. Surely, it was cold comfort that the 24-year old Italian, who was the defending champion here, converted it in the one set he won.

“I am not a machine,” Sinner had noted after his demanding third-round win over Denis Shapovalov. “I also struggle sometimes.”

This certainly was one of those times, the least competitive of their six meetings at the majors. And with Alcaraz now ahead in their overall rivalry 10-5, it begs the question: If Sinner is a kind of tennis terminator—a bot, if you will—what does that make Alcaraz?

“A wizard,” would be the immediate answer, and at times in this meeting it certainly seemed an apt description. Sinner is the best returner in the game, at least on hard courts, yet Alcaraz held serve at love four times and allowed just that single break point. Alcaraz outplayed Sinner in every facet of the game for the bulk of the match, and Sinner acknowledged as much.

“I was very predictable today,” Sinner said in his news conference. "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.”

Sinner suggested that his win at Wimbledon (another relatively fast surface), might have lulled him into a false sense of security.

“When the scoreline of matches before are comfortable but you always do the same things [it’s dangerous]. I'm going to aim to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that's what I have to do.”

It was an unflinching self-appraisal by a man who had not expected to be so overwhelmed.

“Sinner never had a chance to get settled in,” broadcast analyst Patrick McEnroe observed in the pro-mortems. “Alcaraz came at him right from the start. Sinner never found his consistency.”

Keeping Sinner off balance and hog-tied was an extraordinary achievement, but Alcaraz was abetted by atypical and sometimes costly glitches in Sinner’s consistency. Sinner made 28 unforced errors and 21 outright winners. Alcaraz belted 41 winners and made four fewer errors than Sinner.

I was very predictable today ... Now it's going to be on me if I want to make changes or not. Jannik Sinner on his Carlos Alcaraz problem

The other details run along similar lines: Sinner put just 48% of his first serves into play, Alcaraz managed 61%. That may not be great, but this was a match in which both men, acutely aware of each other’s first-strike power, came close to redlining in every department.

As McEnroe said, “Every shot these guys hit at each other has to have a purpose unless it’s hit on the run. Anything left hanging or neutral the other guy will clean up.”

Read more: Generational Rivalry: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner evenly split four majors in back-to-back seasons

In addition, Alcaraz out-aced Sinner 10-2, struck fewer double faults (0-4), and won a significantly higher percentage of both first serve points (83%-69%) and second serve ones (57%-48%). The return-points-won numbers were similarly lopsided.

All these numbers add up to what is usually called a good, old-fashioned beatdown. Yet it looked nothing like that because of the aura of this rivalry, and, at times, the mind-blowing quality of the shotmaking from Sinner as well as the winner.

Sinner’s recent history did not exactly prefigure this loss, but some elements in it gave the more attentive fans and pundits cause to wonder. After that comparably dominant win over Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, neither of Sunday’s finalists played again until the Cincinnati Open, where they made the final. Sinner abandoned that match after losing the first five games due to a viral illness.

It wasn’t entirely smooth sailing in Gotham either. Even as his nemesis Alcaraz was threatening to become the first man to win the US Open without the loss of a set, Sinner was grappling either with feisty opponents like Shapovalov and, in the semis, Felix Auger-Aliassime, or physical issues.

At 4-3 in the second set with FAA, he took a medical timeout for an abdominal strain, but recovered from it quickly.

“I felt I was struggling a lot today, but I was already struggling during the tournament,” Sinner said, alluding once again to the need to re-assess his game, perhaps looking to inject a little more creativity.

“It takes time. One secret is also patience. It's not like it [change] comes from now, and then in Beijing I'm going to be a lefty, you know. So let's see. Maybe it's just a small thing. Maybe I can change big. I don't know, so let's see.”

Sinner seems to be learning that life really would be easier if he really were a tennis bot.