Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner arrive at September with heavy workloads behind them and differing short-term plans. Across a month of high-stakes finals in North America, the pair reached back-to-back title matches and logged 13 matches each, although the Cincinnati final was cut short.

After meeting in the Wimbledon final, where Sinner emerged victorious, both skipped the Canadian Open and then reunited in Cincinnati. Alcaraz lifted the trophy after his rival retired while trailing 0-5 due to illness. They were the last two standing again at the US Open, with Alcaraz going on to win the title.

Alcaraz was due to play for Spain in the Davis Cup Qualifiers second-round rubber against Denmark in Marbella but has withdrawn, the federation citing fatigue. With Italy already through to the Davis Cup Final 8 play-offs in Bologna, Sinner will not be in action for his nation this round either.

Six-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz will return to competition at the Laver Cup, representing Team Europe in San Francisco alongside Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Casper Ruud, Jakub Mensik and Flavio Cobolli. It will be his second appearance at the annual team event after debuting in 2024. Sinner has again opted not to take part.

The two will head to the Asia swing on different paths. Sinner is entered at the China Open while Alcaraz will make his debut at the Japan Open; both tournaments run from September 24-30. They both played in Beijing last year and reached the final there, with Alcaraz prevailing in a three-set match.

The next event likely to put them in the same draw is the Shanghai Masters, which begins October 1. Sinner enters as the defending champion after beating Novak Djokovic in the final 12 months ago; Alcaraz lost in the Shanghai quarter-final to Tomas Machac.

Their programmes for the late regular season remain flexible. They did not play at the Vienna Open or Swiss Indoors in 2024 before Alcaraz returned at the Paris Masters and lost in the third round. Sinner was initially on the Paris entry list but withdrew due to illness. Both have already secured places at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, provided they are fit and healthy.

Jack Draper has confirmed he will miss the remainder of the 2025 season because of a left arm injury that forced him to withdraw from the US Open. The British left-hander pulled out ahead of his second-round match with Zizou Bergs after winning his opening match in Queens, and the problem follows an absence from Toronto and Cincinnati earlier in the summer.

On Monday Draper said the issue in his left arm will require extended rest. “Unfortunately, the injury to my arm is something I have to rest and means I’ll be sitting out the rest of 2025. It is very difficult for me to accept as I was building some incredible momentum this year and playing some great stuff,” the 2024 US Open semifinalist wrote on his social media.

The 23-year-old’s season was split between breakthrough results and a long injury interruption. Draper captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, finished runner-up at the Mutua Madrid Open and climbed into the top five of the ATP rankings. A run to the semifinals at The Queen’s Club preceded a sharp reduction in match play; after that London run he appeared in only two more events.

At Wimbledon the London native lost to Marin Cilic in the second round, then was diagnosed with a bone bruise to his left humerus that left him unable to serve for a month. The world No. 7 did not play a singles match again that season, reappearing on court when he partnered Jessica Pegula to the semifinals of the US Open’s reimagined mixed doubles event while also debuting a new partnership with Vuori during Fan Week at Flushing Meadows.

Draper closed his message with a familiar resolve. “I’ve been through this before and I always come back stronger as I’m so motivated to fulfill my potential as a player,” he declared. “Huge thanks to everyone who backs me to do well and supports me on my journey. Can’t wait to get back out there and give it my all. See you soon!”

Carlos Alcaraz’s rapid ascent was built on natural talent and a family environment rooted in tennis. Tipped from a young age to be a special player, he made his ATP Tour main draw debut at 16 in February 2020 and captured his maiden singles title the following year. The 2022 campaign announced him to the world: four titles in the first half of the season, including two ATP Masters 1000 trophies, and a first Grand Slam at the US Open in September. On the back of that success he became the first teenager to top the ATP Rankings and the youngest player to finish the year as world No 1.

Born on 5 May 2003 in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, Alcaraz is the son of Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez and Virginia Garfia Escandon and has three brothers: an older brother, Alvaro, and two younger brothers, Sergio and Jaime. His father is a former professional player who reached a career-high of No 963 in 1990 and later worked as a tennis academy director at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia. Young Carlos began playing at that same club “as soon as he could hold a racket.” One of his early coaches recalled that even at four or five years old he showed extraordinary promise: “He began to play with his dad, and one day [his father] asked me to watch him. This kid, at four, five years old, was spectacular,” Kiko Navarro, one of Alcaraz Jr’s early coaches, told the Guardian. “I knew from very young that he was incredible. I’m not going to say that I was thinking he was going to be world No 1 but I knew that I had a really good and different player on my hands.”

Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez has run the Carlos Alcaraz Tennis Academy by Reina at the Tiro de Pichón for nearly three decades and has become a major sponsor since his son’s rise. Virginia Garfia has generally kept a low profile but has attended several high-profile matches, including the 2024 US Open final win over Casper Ruud, the 2024 French Open victory over Alexander Zverev and the Wimbledon title runs in 2023 and 2024; she was notably seen celebrating after the 2023 semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev. In a 2022 interview Carlos said: “Obviously, my parents control the money for me. To buy some golf clubs, which I love; I don’t ask permission, but for a good car, yes. I’m still fighting it.
“My father is tougher and my mother less, so to go out and those things I tell my mother. I don’t have time as such, but they always tell me ‘don’t be late’. As much as I try not to make any noise when I get home, they always wake up and catch me.” In the Netflix documentary Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, released in early 2025, he revealed he still lives with his parents and that his mother’s cooking is “another reason why I like to be at home”. His brother Alcaro added: “He really is a family guy. he loved being with his childhood friends at the party because it’s when he’s the most relaxed and can really be himself.
“Please know that no matter how famous you decide you want to be, that you’ll always be my little brother and I’ll slap you over the head if you get all full of yourself.”