Sinner wins to set up Alcaraz final at US Open

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

Jannik Sinner defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in the US Open semi-final, setting up a thrilling Grand Slam final alongside Carlos Alcaraz, despite a slight injury scare.

After Alcaraz won the French Open in June and Sinner won the Wimbledon matchup a month later, the pair will meet again in a title decider.

The match will also feature the number one ranking contest, which Sinner has held for 65 consecutive weeks, and it is also the first time in the Open era that two players have competed for three major finals in one season.

Although Sinner, the current champion, struggled to recover at 6-1, 3-3, 6-3, and 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

This year, Sinner, 24, won 26 of his 27 Grand Slam matches, including the French Open final and the Australian Open final.

Sinner stumbled in the second set after a rejuvenated Auger-Aliassime leveled off with an injury that appeared to have prevented him.

The Italian paused for a medical period before returning for the third set before settling back into rhythm without ever achieving top form.

After defeating Novak Djokovic 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 earlier on Friday, he will face world number two Alcaraz in Sunday’s showpiece.

Sinner, who added that his injury was “nothing to bad,” said “Sunday is a very special day and an amazing final again.”

He continued, “We’ll see what’s coming.” I believe our rivalry began when Alcaraz defeated Sinner in the quarter-finals of our previous match in 2022. We are now two different players with different levels of confidence.

With just four unforced errors in the opening set, world number one Sinner had the impression of a routine win was about to come.

However, in the second half, errors started to creep into Sinner’s game, and Auger-Aliassime, who was competing in his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2021, grew more confident and relied on the crowd’s enthusiasm to gain traction.

Auger-Aliassime broke for 5-3 before serving out for the set after passing up three break points to take the lead with a 2-0 lead.

Even though Sinner’s first-serve accuracy had decreased slightly after he left the court for treatment, there was no real evidence that he was hurting.

He landed just 10 of 25 (40%) in the third compared to 10 of 22 (45%) in the second set and 13 of 25 (52%) in the first.

However, Auger-Aliassime was unable to fully exploit any potential issue, so a 5-3 break of serve was sufficient to end the game.

Without a few moments of resilience from his rival, Sinner had emerged as the younger of the two by the fourth.

With the victory, Rod Laver, Roger Federer, and Djokovic join only the other players in the Open era to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a single season.

Everyone was wondering who would stop Alcaraz or Sinner from winning the Slams for the second time in a row before the season’s final major.

Alcaraz lost to Sinner in the final of this year’s final after winning back-to-back French Open titles and claiming the title from last year. He has already set his sights on the New York showpiece without sacrificing a set.

In the opening match of the match, he broke Djokovic and threatened to lead by a double break before the Serbian fought his way out of the trouble.

Without engaging rallies and baseline errors, it wasn’t a classic game of tennis. Alcaraz, however, never seemed to give up on his leadership.

Momentum changed, however, just like it did in their January Australian Open quarter-final.

Alcaraz led the first set in Melbourne, but Djokovic increased the intensity the next, and the result was a four-set defeat.

When Djokovic advanced to a third-set lead of 3-1, the match was recalled. Alcaraz, however, was able to make adjustments both tactically and mentally this time.

The Spaniard casually flicked a cross-court forehand past Djokovic to bring up a break point that his deflated opponent had set for himself in the net at 30-30.

No one had any more break opportunities, which produced a tie-break in which Djokovic overcame a 4-1 deficit for 4-3 before losing the game.

Alcaraz had previously won the opening two sets in each of his 52 Grand Slam matches.

Djokovic has focused on challenging the status quo throughout his entire career, which is undoubtedly his best career to date.

In the late 2000s, he was the outsider trying to break up the duopoly of Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Nearly 20 years later, Sinner and Alcaraz find themselves shackled out at the top of the men’s game.

Alcaraz performed well and countered with aggressive groundstrokes early in the rally to overthrow Djokovic.

Although the former world number one showed this year that he still has time to reach the semi-finals of all four majors, Djokovic’s 30 unforced errors demonstrates how pressured he is on Alcaraz and Sinner.

In the end, he will never accept that even when the odds are stacked against him, he will never accept that.

They’re playing at a high level, Djokovic said, “They’re just too good.”