By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, September 7, 2025
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
NEW YORK—Delivering a declarative US Open statement, Carlos Alcaraz dropped a 131 mph exclamation point to punctuate his return to the top.
Slashing a serve winner on his third championship point, Alcaraz dropped to his knees and arose as world No. 1 again.
A dynamic Alcaraz dethroned defending champion Jannik Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to capture his second US Open championship and supplant Sinner as world No. 1.
The 22-year-old Spaniard claimed his sixth career Grand Slam championship, avenged his four-set defeat to Sinner in the Wimbledon final and collected a Grand Slam record $5 Million champion’s check.
“When you achieve the goals you set up yourself at the beginning of the year, it feels amazing,” Alcaraz said. “Since I got the chance to recover the No. 1, it was one of the first goals that I had during the seasons, just to try to recover the No. 1 as soon as possible or end the year as the No. 1.
“For me, achieve that once again, it is, as I said, it is a dream. Doing in 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.”
The two champions are in a class by themselves combining to claim the last eight straight Grand Slam crowns—and barring injury it’s completely conceivable they could continue to split the Slam spoils for the next two to three years.
“I’d like to start with Jannik, it’s unbelievable what you are doing during the whole season,” said Alcaraz, after sweeping 21 of 22 sets he played in this Flushing Meadows fortnight. “[The] great level during every tournament you’re playing.
“I’m seeing you more than my family so it’s great to share the court, share the locker room, share the everything with you. Watching you improve every day working really hard with your team it’s great what you’re doing. Great performance during the whole week.”
It’s a historic triumph for Alcaraz, the Grand Slam gift who keeps giving.
At 22 years and 125 days, Alcaraz is the second youngest man in Open Era to win six Grand Slam titles. The stylish Spaniard is the fourth man in history to win multiple Grand Slam titles on clay (2), grass (2) and hard courts (2).
Consider what Alcaraz achieved: defeating Grand Slam king Novak Djokovic and world No. 1 Sinner back-to-back and dropping serve just twice against two of the top returners the sport has seen. Today, Alcaraz won 83 percent of his first-serve points and faced just a single break point.
Truth be told: this was far from vintage Sinner.
The top seed’s backhand flat-lined into net in vulnerable moments, his first serve was MIA at times (he served 49 percent) and Alcaraz broke Sinner five times, including the opening game of the match to set the tone beneath the closed retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Credit Alcaraz for a creative and varied all-court attack—he hit 42 winners, doubling the Sinner’s 21 winners—sharp serving (he dropped serve only once) and superior variety. From the opening game, Alcaraz mixed higher topspin and imposed his formidable front-court skills at the right time, winning 20 of 27 trips to net.
“I think every player has their styles. My style, yeah, it’s about the variety that I have in a match,” Alcaraz said. “I feel I can do everything on court, to be honest: slices, drop shots, topspin, flat. I just trust really much in my physical conditions.
“I feel like I can reach every ball, which give me the confident and the security of making good points and be able to play with variety. So I just, since when I was really, really young, I just got that feeling of doing everything. Just come to the net, playing from the baseline, drop shot, come to the net, slices.”
Sinner is a pure ball striker, but Alcaraz owns more shots and showed it all to unsettle the Italian, snapping Sinner’s 27-match major hard-court winning streak.
“Well, I was very predictable today, you know, on court in the way of he did many things, he
changed up the game,” Sinner said. “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, you know? That’s definitely we are going to work on that.
“I’m trying to be more prepared for the next match what I will play against him.”
Gracious in defeat, Sinner said Alcaraz simply outplayed him today, taking a 10-5 lead in their head-to-head series.
“I felt like he was doing everything slightly better today, especially serving, both sides, both swings very
clean,” Sinner said. “Yeah, I think that’s it, you know. I give lots of credit to him, because he handled the situation better than I did.
“Yeah, he raised his level when he had to, so yeah, I mean, I’m still proud of myself, about the season I’m playing and making. But yeah, he played better than me today.”
Intrigue surrounding this final started before it began with the appearance of President Donald Trump in the Rolex luxury box directly across from chair umpire James Keothavong’s seat.
The USTA issued a request to broadcasters to mute crowd reaction. During the National Anthem, the camera briefly flashed to the President for less than five seconds. Later in the match, during a changeover the big screen again showed President Trump for about 10 seconds. The crowd reaction was mixed with some cheers and even more boos as the President raised a clenched fist.
In a celebrity-packed audience, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd gave the biggest roars to New Jersey natives Bruce Springsteen and Danny DeVito with Springsteen receiving a sustained ovation before the camera cut immediately to actress Courtney Cox, who starred in Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” video while the sound system blasted that song. Other stars in attendance included Sting, Shaggy, Lindsay Lohan Michael J. Fox, Al Roker and Hank Azaria.
This Flushing Meadows final marked the third straight Grand Slam final between the same two male rivals—the first time in Open Era history two men faced off in three major finals in a single season.
At the outset, the 2022 champion Alcaraz was more assertive and more relaxed.
Sinner could not find net clearance on his two-handed backhand then missed an inside-in forehand.
Pouncing immediately, Alcaraz drew a netted backhand to score the opening break.
Brilliant ball-control skills were on display as Alcaraz feinted the drop shot and pushed a forehand winner past his opponent holding for 2-0.
Though Sinner closed to 2-3, Alcaraz answered with three consecutive love holds. When Sinner netted a backhand volley from near net, Alcaraz earned his second break for 5-2.
The second seed served out the 37-minute opening set at love.
Striking with precision, Alcaraz fired 11 winners against just two errors in that opening set.
The reigning Roland Garros champion’s lone sloppy game came in the fourth game of set two. Alcaraz threw in a clunker of a game and Sinner snapped a forehand pass earning the love break for 3-1.
A surging Sinner won 12 of 14 points midway through the set stretching his lead to 4-1.
A slick leaping backhand volley helped Sinner serve out the second set turning the tables on Alcaraz as he did after dropping the opening set in the Wimbledon final.
The world No. 1 exploited that single sloppy game from the Spaniard to level and the erupted sensing this could develop into a battle.
Competing with buzz-kill brilliance, Alcaraz muted the uprising. Extending his opponent with a whipping T serve, Sinner had the open court but blew a forehand ceding the break and a 2-0 third-set lead.
Down love-30 in the ensuing game, Alcaraz responded with one of the most pivotal strikes in the match. From the baseline, Alcaraz zapped a slice bounce smash winner to get back in the game. Running down his opponent’s dropper, Alcaraz slid a backhand reply down the line then dabbed a drop volley holding for 3-0.
A rattled Sinner pressed his palms in the air toward his box in a “What can I do gesture” toward his coaches.
Across the net, a locked-in Alcaraz forced a lopping forehand error breaking again for 4-0 before extending to 5-0.
On his first set point, Alcaraz blistered a crackling serve capping a commanding third set that saw him strike 11 winners to 1 for the world No. 1.
In a punishing 10-minute game that opened the fourth set, Sinner saved a pair of break points holding for 1-0.
On this day, Alcaraz’s ferocious forehand and strong serving were too much. Alcaraz hit his running forehand with greater precision, mixed the deep heavy forehand with the sharp-angled shorter forehand and repeatedly beat Sinner in critical crosscourt forehand exchanges.
When Sinner spit up his fourth double fault to face break point in the fifth game. Alcaraz made him pay. Coaxing a deep forehand error, Alcaraz broke fora 3-2 lead.
Crushing the wide serve on the ad side, Alcaraz nuked a 132 ace out wide holding at 30 for 4-2.
The champion went down swinging. Sinner saved the first championship point with flat forehand then blasted a backhand return down the line to save the second championship point.
Destroying the drama in style, Alcaraz threw down that 131 mph missile out wide to end a two hour, 42-minute triumph.
It is Alcaraz’s ATP-best 61st match win and seventh title of the season—and that wide winner’s smile never escaped his faced as he hung out on court signing autographs and taking selfies with fans.
A champion for all surfaces, Alcaraz now has one primary aim: Win the Australian Open and complete the career Grand Slam. To do it, he may well need to dethrone defending champion Sinner in Melbourne
“It’s my first goal, to be honest. When I just go to the preseasons to what I want to improve, what I want to achieve, Australian Open is there,” Alcaraz said. “It’s the first or second tournament of the year, and it is always the main goal for me to complete a career Grand Slam, calendar Grand Slam. So it’s going to be great.
“If I do first or second for me, to be honest, I don’t mind. I just wanted to complete it. Obviously I’m going to try to do it next year, but if it is not next year, hopefully in two and three and four. So I will try to complete it.”
