Boris Becker offered a blunt assessment after Jannik Sinner was unable to defend his US Open title, falling 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s men’s singles final. The loss cost Sinner the championship and allowed Alcaraz to reclaim the world No 1 ranking.

Becker pointed to a specific weakness that Alcaraz exploited throughout the match. “From the first minute to the last, Alcaraz was clearly better than all the other players and even better than Sinner,” said Becker. “In the final, he was clearly the boss. He played tennis from another planet and deserved to win the tournament.

“The big difference I noticed in this duel was on serve; Sinner was clearly weaker, and that’s unforgiving, if he has a real weakness, it’s this one.”

The defeat extended Alcaraz’s dominance in their rivalry: it was Sinner’s seventh loss to Alcaraz in eight meetings since the start of 2024, leaving Alcaraz with a 10-5 advantage in the head-to-head. During that period Sinner lost only four matches to players other than the Spaniard. Alcaraz’s victory also brought him level with Becker on two US Open titles and six Grand Slam trophies overall.

Becker said he had expected more from Sinner and felt the Italian had not advanced in the ways Alcaraz had. “I am one who always thinks to tell the truth. I was a little disappointed. I expected more.

“But of course I was not disappointed by Alcaraz. Because he really played tennis better today than a year ago. He had more variations, he had speed changes. He played serve volley. He played backhand slice. He played forehand where you don’t see the ball.

“And I think Sinner, for the first time, he stood still with his game. He is now predictable. You know exactly what always happens. And it’s not as bad that I see it that way. It’s worse for him that Alcaraz sees it that way.

“And I think for the first time that Alcaraz really took a step forward. And Sinner stayed the same. He partly didn’t know how to win the points. Except Alcaraz hit the ball.

“In his press conference after the match, Sinner, always said very honestly, that he [Alcaraz] has developed further in tennis and I have not. And I think it’s great that he says that. But that’s how I felt it.

“There was never a discussion for me, even after the second set, who would win this match in the end. And I didn’t see that in any other final between the two.”

Both players are scheduled to compete at the Shanghai Masters next month, where Sinner will aim to defend the title he won in 2024.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have established a rare pattern of dominance on the ATP Tour, combining to win the last eight Grand Slam titles — four apiece since the start of 2024 — and meeting in three straight major finals this season, a new milestone for the men’s game in the Open Era. Their rivalry has extended beyond slams: in the last five ATP Tour tournaments in which both entered, the world No 1 and No 2 have met in the final.

That run of five consecutive finals when both players competed together is the first time in more than four decades that a pair have done so, echoing the streak set by John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl in 1984. The Alcaraz-Sinner sequence began at the Italian Open in May, when Alcaraz beat Sinner in what was the Italian’s first tournament back after his three-month doping suspension.

Weeks later the pair contested a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros, with Alcaraz saving three championship points in a match widely described as legendary. Sinner then ended the Spaniard’s Wimbledon reign, defeating him in four sets in that final. Both players withdrew from the Canadian Open but reached the Cincinnati Open final the following week, where Sinner was forced to retire five games into the match because of illness.

The rivalry produced its first US Open final between them, with Alcaraz denying Sinner a successful title defence to claim his second Flushing Meadows crown and move to a 4-1 record in finals between the two this year. As the tour moves into the Asian swing, the pair have chosen different schedules: Sinner will play the China Open and Alcaraz has opted for the Japan Open instead of defending his Beijing title. The next event they are both set to play is the Shanghai Masters, where Sinner will attempt to defend his title.

The McEnroe-Lendl comparison is apt: in 1984 those two met in six straight finals when competing in the same event, beginning at the Masters. McEnroe won five of those encounters before Lendl overturned him in a comeback at Roland Garros. The 1984 sequence ended at Queen’s Club, and the duo finished their rivalry having met 36 times, with Lendl holding a 21-15 advantage.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have emerged as the clear front-runners in men’s tennis, leaving Novak Djokovic as the leading figure chasing the pair. Over the past 24 months the two have shared the four most significant titles each, while Djokovic remains the last player outside that duo to have won a major, his 2023 US Open triumph the most recent exception.

Alcaraz and Sinner have generally dominated the events they entered, taking 21 titles between them, 11 for the Spaniard and 10 for the Italian. Sinner became the first Italian to reach world No 1 in June last year and spent 65 consecutive weeks at the top before being displaced after the US Open. Alcaraz returned to No 1 for the first time since September 2023.

Alexander Zverev follows them in the rankings but has struggled to sustain the form he showed early in the season when he finished runner-up to Sinner at the Australian Open. Djokovic sits at No 4, a 24-time major champion who reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year. With age and circumstances pointing toward the latter stages of his career, the question has become who will step up to challenge the Big Two consistently.

Former Australian Open semi-finalist Nicolas Escude believes Ben Shelton is that player. The 21-year-old American rose to a career-high No 6 after claiming his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Canadian Open. Shelton had been fancied to go deep at the US Open, but was forced to retire with a shoulder injury during his third-round match.

Escude offered a cautious endorsement of Shelton’s rise. “He’s had a great summer, he’s been surprising for a while now. Even on clay, I didn’t expect him to reach this level so quickly.

“At the US Open, he was the one I was counting on to reach the semi-finals and, why not, cause a surprise against an Alcaraz or a Sinner. But that hasn’t yet been confirmed in terms of results and ranking.

“Indeed, Djokovic is still the third man today, but the third man to come would potentially be Ben Shelton.”