US Open 2025: The smiling assassin strikes back

The 22-year-old avenged his defeat to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final by overcoming his frequent nemesis 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the US Open championship match on Sunday.

Alcaraz’s form hit absurd levels throughout the majority of the contest, as he fired 42 winners against a mere 24 unforced errors during the two-hour 42-minute battle.

The Murcia native was untouchable all tournament, reaching the final without dropping a set. And when it came time for him to close out the decider, he let two match points slip away but still managed to look up to his box and give a huge grin. It was all over two points later.

He gave the same smile when he crouched to the ground upon victory, recording his 10th win over Sinner in 15 meetings.

“I was scared, I’m not going to lie,” Alcaraz told ESPN about that smile he gave after losing two championship points.

“But smiling is something that helps me a lot to pull out all the nerves and thanks to that, it seems like I’m having fun. I like these moments, I like the challenge, I like the most difficult moments in the match. I like them, I face them like, okay, it’s going to happen. So that’s why I smile, and that’s why I show my best tennis in those moments.”

The Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry truly came to life in New York three years ago when Alcaraz bested Sinner in a 5+ hour epic that ended at nearly 3:00am. Alcaraz went on to win the US Open – his maiden major title – and rose to No.1 in the world.

The pair have dominated the men’s tour over the past two years, evenly splitting the last eight majors and facing off in three consecutive finals this season.

It made sense that Alcaraz’s first words during the trophy ceremony were directed towards Sinner.

“I want to start with Jannik. It’s unbelievable what you’re doing the whole season, great level every tournament you’re playing. I’m seeing you more than my family,” said Alcaraz with a smile.

“It’s great to share the court, to share the locker room, to share everything with you. Watching you improve every day, working really hard with your team, really great people around you. So just congratulations for everything you’re doing and a great performance during the whole week.”

The same words can be said about Alcaraz. He dropped serve just three times throughout the entire tournament, and finished the US Open with a +89 ratio of winners to unforced errors.

The Spaniard was competing in his eighth consecutive final of the season and now owns more career Slams (6) than he does losses (5) in 2025.

On Sunday, Alcaraz ended Sinner’s title defence, his 65-week reign at the top of the rankings, and his 27-match winning streak on hard courts at the Grand Slam level all in one go.

He joins Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg as the men with the most Grand Slam titles won before turning 23 in the Open Era.

He is also just the third man in history, alongside Novak Djokovic and Nadal, to win Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open two or more times.

The first duo to meet in three Grand Slam men’s singles finals in a season in the Open Era (since 1968), Alcaraz and Sinner drew in a star-studded crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium that included President Donald Trump, icons from the music world like Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Pink, and Usher, stars from the sports world like Stephen Curry, Pep Guardiola, Sergio Perez, Lindsey Vonn, Paul George and Sergio Garcia, and Hollywood stars like Michael J. Fox, Jessica Alba, Adrien Brody, Spike Lee and Courteney Cox.

Alcaraz broke twice in a dominant opening set before Sinner stepped things up in the second. The Italian broke Alcaraz at love en route to a 4-1 lead and soon levelled the match.

Alcaraz’s response was swift and brutal, as he raced to a 5-0 advantage in the third and reclaimed the lead. After squandering two break points in the opening game of the fourth, Alcaraz got the break he needed in game five and closed out the victory on his third match point.

“I tried my best today, I couldn’t do more,” said Sinner during the trophy ceremony.

He later explained to the press what made the difference during the match.

“H has improved. I felt like was a bit cleaner today. The things that I did well in London, he did better today,” said the 24-year-old Italian.

“I felt like he was doing everything slightly better today, especially serving, both sides, both wings 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.”

Sinner was facing Alcaraz for a fifth time this season and he is already thinking about what he will need to do for their next meeting, when it transpires.

“I was very predictable today on court in the way of 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, you know? That's definitely we are going to work on that,” said Sinner, who has reached all four major finals this campaign.

“I'm going to aim to maybe even losing some matches 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.”

Alcaraz gets a tattoo after every Grand Slam triumph and he revealed to ESPN he would be getting two different tattoos to commemorate this US Open victory, one of the Brooklyn Bridge and one of the Statue of Liberty.

“It means a lot to me (to win my sixth major). This is what we are working for, to live these kind of moments, to be on the biggest stages in our sport,” said Alcaraz.

“For me lifting the trophy here in the US Open it is amazing. I would say it’s more special because it’s where I got my first one, now the sixth one. So I just want to keep going. I don’t want myself to stop here. I know it’s ambitious, obviously I’m going to enjoy this moment, because I have to realise that it’s really difficult to achieve that. But to be honest, it feels great, it’s amazing.”