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Wilander backs Carlos Alcaraz as the player to beat at US Open, passing over Jannik Sinner

Wilander: Alcaraz ‘focused’ and ‘pretty perfect’ after three rounds; seen as the man to beat. (2025)

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Mats Wilander has pointed to Carlos Alcaraz as the player to beat at this year’s US Open, citing the Spaniard’s form through three rounds and a level of focus that has impressed the former world No 1. “Alcaraz is playing extremely well,” said Wilander. “He’s unbelievably focused, the movement is just so good it seems impossible to hit the ball past him. “His forehand, he said himself is not perfect, to me it looks pretty perfect, and he is serving well. “Early in the tournament, for once, he looks like the man to beat.”

Alcaraz reached the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 win over Lucas Darderi, having not dropped a set in his prior matches. He entered the tournament having won 30 of his last 31 matches, his only recent loss coming to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final.

Sinner, the defending champion, remains a favourite for many and, like Alcaraz, had not dropped a set at this stage of the event.

Alcaraz will next meet world No 82 Arthur Rinderknech, who recovered from a set down to Benjamin Bonzi. Earlier in the tournament Rinderknech had survived a five-set match with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The world No 2 has beaten Rinderknech on three occasions, two of those matches going the distance. Their closest meeting finished 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at Queen’s Club in 2023, a result that helped propel Alcaraz to his first Wimbledon title.

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“Rinderknech has a big serve and big game,” analysed the Swede. “He can rush Alcaraz, maybe take the second serve return and come to the net, maybe hit the ball really hard down the middle and come to the net, do something that will surprise Alcaraz. “I think he has a chance to at least win a set.”

Alcaraz has a history of strong results at the US Open, reaching the quarter-finals on his first appearance at 18 and winning the title in 2022, but his straight-set defeat last year to Botic Van de Zandschulp has remained a point of reference. “I’m just trying not to do the same things as last year,” Alcaraz analysed. “Trying to improve and do the things much better. Every time that I step on the court, I’m just locked in from the first point until the last one. “I’m taking last year as motivation coming into this year, be more hungry, ambitious to do great things here. “This is a place that I love playing. The energy is crazy, so I’m just trying to feel the love and the energy from the people much more and playing as much matches as I can, that motivates me.”

On Rinderknech, Alcaraz added: “He’s really difficult to play against, really aggressive, big serve, trying to go to the net. “So it’s going to be really difficult, but as I said, I’m just trying to be focused on myself, that I’m playing great tennis, and I’m feeling really comfortable physically, mentally, and just feeling the ball really well. “I will try to think just about my goals, about myself, and let’s see, but it’s going to be a really interesting one.”

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Analytics & Stats Player News WTA

Anisimova Enters WTA Top 3 and Becomes the New American No. 1

Amanda Anisimova rises to No. 3 in the WTA rankings and becomes the top American player. ©Prange2025

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Amanda Anisimova rises to a career-high No. 3 in the latest WTA rankings, marking her first appearance inside the Top 3 and establishing her as the top-ranked American player. She moves up from No. 4 while Coco Gauff drops from No. 3 to No. 4, a swap driven by this week’s points adjustments.

There were no tournaments last week, but points from Week 1 of 2025 have dropped off the rankings. Anisimova remains on 6,287 ranking points. Gauff’s total falls from 6,763 to 6,273 after last year’s United Cup results are removed. The net effect places Anisimova ahead of Gauff and makes her the highest-ranked American on either the ATP or WTA lists; Gauff is now the second-highest-ranked American.

Anisimova’s climb carries additional historical notes. She becomes just the third player born in the 2000s to reach the Top 3 in WTA history, and the fifth player born in that decade to achieve a Top 3 ranking across either the WTA or ATP. She is also the 15th American woman to reach the Top 3 since WTA rankings began in 1975. For context, 11 American men have reached the Top 3 since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.

Other notable ranking changes this week include Linda Noskova moving from No. 13 to a personal best of No. 12. Clara Tauson slips from No. 12 to No. 14; Noskova lost her second match in Brisbane a year ago while Tauson won the Auckland title at the same time last season. Cristina Bucsa makes her Top 50 debut, rising from No. 51 to No. 50. Anastasia Potapova drops from No. 50 to No. 55; Bucsa lost in the first round in Brisbane last year while Potapova reached the third round.

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© 2025 Robert Prange

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Hsieh Su-wei at 40: Four decades distilled into 40 defining numbers

Hsieh Su-wei turns 40: 40 milestones from No. 1 doubles weeks to Grand Slam and tour titles. Today!

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Hsieh Su-wei celebrates her 40th birthday with a resume few peers can match. A concise selection of career milestones captures the arc of a player who has excelled in doubles, enjoyed late-career singles highlights and returned to the tour with sustained success.

She first reached No. 1 in doubles on May 12, 2014, becoming the first Taiwanese player to reach the top spot in tennis in either women’s or men’s, singles or doubles. She claimed two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024 alongside Jan Zielinski; those were their first and third tournaments together. Her three WTA singles titles came in 2012 (Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou) and 2018 (Hiroshima).

Hsieh has won Grand Slam women’s doubles titles with four different partners: two with Peng Shuai, and one each with Barbora Strycova, Elise Mertens and Wang Xinyu. She has five Wimbledon titles, including four in women’s doubles (2013 with Peng, 2019 with Strycova, 2021 with Mertens and 2023 with Strycova) and one mixed in 2024 with Zielinski.

Her WTA Finals record features six appearances and a title in 2013 with Peng; she reached the semifinals in 2025 with Jelena Ostapenko. Across Grand Slams she owns seven women’s doubles majors, plus two mixed doubles majors. Indian Wells stands out among her 13 WTA 1000 doubles titles, winning it four times in 2014 (with Peng), 2018 (with Strycova), 2021 and 2014 (with Mertens).

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Other highlights: she has 36 doubles wins in 2025 (36-18), 37 career tour-level doubles titles (35 women’s, two mixed), and 40 career tour-level titles overall (three singles, 35 women’s doubles and two mixed). She spent 59 weeks at No. 1 in doubles and is one of only 18 women to log 50 or more weeks at the top. Her Top 10 and Top 15 singles victories mostly arrived in her 30s, including her first Top 10 singles win at Roland Garros in 2017 and a landmark win over reigning No. 1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2018.

Early markers include a perfect 30-0 start below tour level at 15 in 2001 and her first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013. She retired from singles in 2024 after Miami. Hsieh is the top seed in doubles in Brisbane this week alongside Jelena Ostapenko.

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Alcaraz Tops 2025 ATP Earnings List and Clears $60 Million in Career Prize Money

Alcaraz tops 2025 ATP prize money with over $21 million and passes $60 million career total. Update

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The ATP’s final prize money standings for 2025 confirm a season dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz led the tour with more than $21 million in prize money for the year, while Sinner followed with north of $19 million. World No. 3 Alexander Zverev ranked third on the list with $7.5 million.

Alcaraz’s 2025 total is the second-highest single-season haul in ATP history, behind only Novak Djokovic’s 2015 figure. Sinner’s earnings for 2025 also produced a milestone: he became the first player to exceed $19 million in a season and the first to top $16 million in two different seasons.

Beyond the single-season figures, Alcaraz’s 2025 earnings pushed his career prize money past $60 million. That achievement marks him as the first player, male or female, born since 2000 to reach that level. The draft also notes that he is the first player born since 1988 to pass the $60 million mark.

The final prize money leaderboard underlines the financial gap at the very top of men’s tennis in 2025, with the two leading players combining for the bulk of top-year payouts. The published top-10 list for 2025 places Alcaraz and Sinner well clear of the next tier, with Zverev as the highest earner after them.

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These numbers frame a season in which prize money concentrated at the top for a small group of players. Alcaraz’s performance in 2025 not only reinforced his place as the year’s top earner but also cemented a rapid climb in career earnings, while Sinner’s consistency produced an unprecedented dual-season benchmark in annual pay.

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