Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the 2025 US Open men’s final with a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2, on Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday. The result came after two hours and 23 minutes of high-quality, pressure tennis.

Alcaraz broke early to take the first set and maintained the edge through fast, aggressive serving and forehand depth. Djokovic pushed back in the second, racing to a 3-0 lead before an errant backhand surrendered the break and the set eventually moved to a tiebreak. Alcaraz secured the opening mini-break in the breaker, led 4-2 at the first change of ends and closed the set when Djokovic miscued a return.

The third set opened disastrously for Djokovic, who committed two double faults in a service game that left him two sets and a break down. Alcaraz consolidated with strong serving and penetrating groundstrokes, moving to a 4-1 lead and later holding for 5-1. Djokovic briefly threatened a late rally, but a double fault on his serve handed Alcaraz two match points. A final serve-and-volley attempt from Djokovic ended with a volley wide and Alcaraz completed the win in just under two and a half hours.

The match added another chapter to a short but intense rivalry. The pair have met eight times across Masters, Grand Slam and Olympic events and Djokovic leads their head-to-head, 5-3. Djokovic had won their last two encounters at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and in Melbourne earlier in the year.

Djokovic, who has spent a record 428 weeks as world No. 1, returned to competition at the US Open after Wimbledon and reached the quarters by defeating Taylor Fritz in that round. Alcaraz arrived in Flushing Meadows having won his first Cincinnati Open title and reached the semifinals at the US Open without dropping a set. His composed performance on Arthur Ashe sends him through to the championship match while Djokovic’s run at major semifinals this season ended once more.

Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe secured the US Open women’s doubles title, beating top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-4 in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Seeded third, Dabrowski and Routliffe celebrated a second triumph at Flushing Meadows in three years.

The victory was Dabrowski’s first major since undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She and Routliffe embraced after the match, a moment that followed Dabrowski delaying part of that treatment so she could compete at Wimbledon last year, where the pair reached the final.

Townsend and Siniakova had been looking to add a US Open title after winning Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January. Townsend emerged as one of the tournament’s most talked-about figures after a post-match altercation early in singles play she said she wishes never happened. According to Townsend, Latvian opponent Jelena Ostapenko told her she had “no class” and “no education,” an interaction that prompted discussion about whether the comments had racial undertones.

Townsend said she didn’t take it that way, acknowledging, “That has been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth.” Her online following grew, she said she received support from fellow players, and Ostapenko ultimately apologized on social media, citing English not being her first language for what she thought to mean tennis etiquette.

In singles, Townsend reached the fourth round before losing to Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday when she failed to convert eight match points. It would have been Townsend’s first solo quarterfinal appearance at a major.

In doubles, Townsend and Siniakova reached their fifth Grand Slam final as a team. Along the way they eliminated Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez, ending a widely noticed wild-card run. Williams, returning to competition at age 45, and Fernandez drew large crowds at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Novak Djokovic has framed his approach to the 2025 US Open semi-final with a mixture of realism and confidence. The Serb arrives at the last four of the year’s final Grand Slam determined to upset expectations and to prove he can still beat the game’s top young players.

Djokovic is set to face Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the final. He has reached the semi-finals at all of this season’s Grand Slams but has not converted those runs into titles at that level, and he has not won an event above ATP 250 in 2025. Still, he insisted his level remains capable of matching the best.

“When I’m in shape and capable of playing my best tennis, I still believe I can beat both Alcaraz and Sinner,” stated the former world No 1, during an interview with SportKlub . “The most dangerous part is that I need to make a great effort, work very hard, and push my body to its limits to have the chance to face them.

“It’s a bit of an unfair battle because their youth and current superiority allow them to arrive in full condition, while I already have half an empty tank.

“That’s biology.”

The season has paid out a mixed ledger. Djokovic has struggled repeatedly against Jannik Sinner, losing his five most recent matches to the Italian and taking just two sets in those meetings. At Wimbledon he was beaten 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, and four weeks earlier he fell 6-4, 7-5, 7-6(3) at the French Open. Against Alcaraz he has had more recent success, including a four-set quarter-final victory at this season’s Australian Open, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. His hard-court record versus Alcaraz stands favourably in the head-to-head.

“One could say that it benefits me to play against Carlos in the semi-finals rather than against Jannik, at least, that’s what the latest results suggest,” he added. “In any case, in Australia and London, I arrived injured at the semi-final match and not now. Each match is a different story.

“I know Alcaraz is the favourite, playing at an impressive level, but I hope to raise my game. These matches are what keep me competing.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to beat the best currently.”

After beating Taylor Fritz in four sets in the quarter-finals, Djokovic was equally candid about the tournament picture: “We don’t need to spend words about two of them,” he commented, during his post-match press conference. “You know, we know that they’re two best players in the world. Everybody’s probably expecting and anticipating the finals between two of them. “I’m going to try to, you know, mess up the plans of most of the people and let’s see, you know, Sinner still has to win a couple of matches to get to the finals, but they are playing definitely the best tennis of any player here.

“They’ve been the dominant force since the beginning of the tournament, but, you know, I definitely am not going with the white flag on the court.

“I don’t think anybody does, really, when they play them, but particularly not me.

“I put myself in another semi-final of a Grand Slam this year.

“I’ve been very consistent, mostly consistent on the Slams this season, and that’s what I said at the beginning of the year, where I would like to perform my best tennis and make the best results.”