Carlos Alcaraz ended Jannik Sinner’s hard-court major run and avenged a Wimbledon defeat two months earlier, winning the 2025 US Open final 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The match unfolded as a study in serving and tactical adjustment: Alcaraz served with authority, Sinner did not.

Alcaraz produced 10 aces and no double faults, landing 61 percent of his first serves and winning 83 percent of those points. He also won 57 percent of points on his second serve. Sinner managed two aces and four double faults, made 48 percent of first serves, and won 48 percent of points on his second serve. The discrepancy widened as the match progressed; Alcaraz regularly reached the 130s and finished in a potent rhythm. At 3-2 he closed a hold with two straight 132-m.p.h. aces. At 4-3 he held to love with an ace and a service winner. Serving for the title at 5-4 he fired a 134 that Sinner returned, then ended the match with a 131 service winner.

Alcaraz combined that serving form with forward movement and aggressive court positioning. He was 20 of 27 at the net and finished with twice as many winners (42 to 21) and fewer unforced errors (24 to 28) than Sinner. The one set Alcaraz lost was the one in which he allowed Sinner to dictate from the baseline; in the sets he won he tended to take the first strike and follow the ball forward.

On the reasons for the improved serve, Alcaraz’s coach said plainly: “This change, it comes from the Australian Open,” Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, said on Sunday. “I think this past December we decide to change a little bit his movement of the serve. During all Cincinnati and also during all US Open, I think the serve is one of the keys to win the tournaments.”

Alcaraz described his study of Sinner: “First of all, because I love watching him play,” Alcaraz says of why he watches so much of Sinner. “I think it is unbelievable what he’s doing. Secondly, it’s because I love to study him, how he plays, how he feel on the tournaments just to [see] if I played him in that tournament, just to have feedback how he’s been playing.”

Sinner already signaled changes ahead: “Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know? That’s definitely we are going to work on that,” he said. “During this tournament, you know, I didn’t make one serve-volley, didn’t use a lot of drop shots.”

Alcaraz reclaimed the No. 1 ranking for the first time in two years and reflected on the week: “I feel like this is the best tournament,” Alcaraz said. “Since the first rounds to the end of the tournament, the best tournament so far that I have ever played.”

Carlos Alcaraz added a consequential line to his career record at the US Open, defeating Jannik Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to capture the title and reach a new landmark. At 22, Alcaraz is now the youngest man in history to win multiple Grand Slam titles on hard courts, clay and grass.

The Spaniard’s resume now includes two Wimbledon trophies on grass (2023 and 2024), two Roland Garros titles on clay (2024 and 2025) and two US Open victories on hard courts (2022 and 2025). With his Roland Garros triumph last year as a 21-year-old, he became the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces. The US Open win takes that achievement a step further: he is the youngest to have multiple majors on each surface.

Alcaraz joins an exclusive group as only the fourth man to finish with multiple Grand Slam titles on every surface, following Mats Wilander, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The comparison underlines the breadth of his success across different conditions and formats.

Historical context highlights how surfaces have evolved in the sport. The US Open switched to hard courts beginning in 1978, and the Australian Open moved to hard courts in 1988. Those shifts help explain how modern players build diversified major records across surfaces.

The final at the US Open also marked another milestone in Alcaraz’s tally of majors. He won his first Grand Slam title on hard courts and, with this victory, has now won his sixth major on hard courts as well. Alcaraz won the first and now the sixth Grand Slam title of his career on hard courts, at the US Open.

His victory over Sinner closed another chapter in a rapid run of major success and underscored how quickly Alcaraz has moved from promising talent to a player whose achievements are already being measured alongside some of the game’s all-time greats.

Carlos Alcaraz captured his second US Open title and reclaimed the world No 1 ranking with a dominant victory over Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz closed out the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, serving for the championship at 5-4 in the fourth set and converting the opportunity to confirm his return to the top of men’s tennis.

The final delivered a landmark payday. The record-breaking prize money at this year’s US Open made the title match the most lucrative non-exhibition match in men’s tennis history. Sinner took home $5,000,000 from the event, while the winner collected the largest single prize ever offered at a regular ATP Tour or Grand Slam event.

That $5m award represents a 100 per cent increase on the $2.5m Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu received when they lifted the US Open four years earlier, underlining the rapid rise in prize money at the top level.

Sinner had been unbeaten on hard courts since his defeat to Alcaraz last October, and the Italian’s run on the surface ended when Alcaraz produced a commanding performance. The Spaniard’s booming serve and aggressive forehand repeatedly forced Sinner out of position and out of his comfort zone.

“There was just too much pressure on Sinner – he cannot cope,” said former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli on the BBC. “Alcaraz makes you feel like it is possible to get a winner over him. The execution of the racquet is just extraordinary from the Spaniard. Sinner was feeling so much pressure from the back of the court.”

The financial context for Sinner is notable. He earned more in exhibition and season-ending events previously, including the Six Kings Slam exhibition where he beat Alcaraz last year and the $4,881,100 he collected when he won the ATP Finals in front of his Italian fans last November. Nonetheless, this US Open final remains the richest non-exhibition prize in men’s tennis history and a decisive moment in the Alcaraz–Sinner rivalry.