Rod Laver, the owner of 11 grand slam singles titles, had a simple question after watching the Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz duel in the US Open men’s singles final on Sunday.
“Who can stop these two?”— Australian Laver asked on X in his congratulatory message to Alcaraz, who prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 over the top-seeded Sinner.
While there seems to be no specific answer to that rhetorical question, one can put it like this — only Alcaraz, 22, can beat Sinner, 24, and vice versa. For the level at which these two divinely gifted tennis craftsmen are playing at the moment, it seems the others are mere mortals. Challenging them is an exercise in futility.
For the record, Alcaraz and Sinner have shared all the four grand slams this year between them. And it has been all about the ‘Sincaraz’ rivalry in three of the four grand slam finals of 2025.
When the two face off, it’s as if two raging bulls have locked horns, refusing to budge even an inch, flexing each and every muscle in their toned bodies, employing all the shots that a tennis player can play while exploring even the acutest angles of the court. The rivalry is still in its nascent stage, just about a couple of years old, but it promises to bloom into a legendary conflict on the tennis court in the coming years.
It is no fluke that that Alcaraz and Sinner are the first two men in the sport’s history to face each other in three consecutive grand slam finals in a single season.
Given the hype that these two bring along every time they meet, Sunday’s clash at Flushing Meadows was certainly not one of those epics that we expect from them. Remember how Alcaraz downed Sinner in five sets, saving three match points, on the red clay of Paris a few months back? Sunday’s match was not like that. But still, it
was a contest to cherish and with the breathtaking shotmaking of these two players, or their near-impossible returns, it was not an ordinary match either.
In the end, Alcaraz stamped his superiority over the defending champion. As a bonus, he also reclaimed the top spot in the ATP rankings from the Italian.
But the road to glory was not a straightforward one for Alcaraz. As revealed by his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, the result was the sum of all the hard work that the Spaniard had put in. To beat Sinner, one needs Sinner-specific training and Alcaraz knew that. So after Sinner beat him in four sets in the Wimbledon final a couple of months back, Alcaraz went back to the drawing board.
“I think it was very important, because we maybe practised for 15 days, very focused on the details that we have to improve to play against Jannik,” Ferrero was quoted as saying by atptour.com. “I think it helped a lot.”
Ferrero called Alcaraz’s performance “perfect.” Alcaraz agreed. “He’s right. I think I played perfect... If I want to beat Jannik, I have to play perfect.”
By the time it ended, Sinner knew he was up against the best version of Alcaraz that could be. “You were better than me. I tried my best... I couldn’t do more,” Sinner surrendered at the trophy ceremony.
The biggest difference between the two rivals on Sunday was the serve. While Sinner’s win percentage on first serve was only 69, Alcaraz was way ahead with 83 per cent. Alcaraz did not make any double faults, Sinner had four. Alcaraz also had twice as many winners, 42-21.
Over the last two seasons, Alcaraz is 7-1 against Sinner. It will be intriguing to find out if those numbers stay such one-sided in the coming years. But for now, they are enjoying playing against each other. “I’m seeing you more than my family,” Alcaraz joked after the match.
And the world wants to see more of them.