Jannik Sinner failed to repeat his US Open heroics of 2024, falling to Carlos Alcaraz at the final stage of this year’s tournament.
The Italian, who abdicated his world number one spot, struggled to find his footing in a match largely dominated by his long-time rival.
Sinner, who was able to neutralise Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final through the use of his high-velocity groundstrokes, found no such luck on the blue and green of Arthur Ashe Court.
The four-time Grand Slam champion simply could not match Alcaraz on the day, something noticed by former US Open champion John McEnroe.
During the post-match coverage, McEnroe also pinpointed an area of Sinner’s performance that was particularly weak on the day.
John McEnroe says the US Open final was the worst Jannik Sinner has served against Carlos Alcaraz
John McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and four-time US Open champion, regularly vocalises his opinions regarding the current affairs of tennis.
This was no different after the US Open final, where McEnroe took particular issue with Jannik Sinner’s serving during the match.
Speaking during ESPN’s live coverage on Sunday, McEnroe said: “Well, he [Alcaraz] lost no sets to all leading to the finals. We wondered if that would change. That did, but the level that he brought most of his match, even got to Sinner.
“I would say the 14 matches they play, this is 15 now, the worst serving day he had, Sinner, of all of them.
“And I don’t have stats in front of me, but he gave Alcaraz too many opportunities, particularly when it looked like he was finding his way and won in the second set.”
Sinner certainly afforded opportunities to Alcaraz on his serve. The Spaniard had 11 break-point opportunities on the Sinner serve, converting five.
Meanwhile, Sinner had just one break-point opportunity on the Alcaraz serve, which he converted.
Carlos Alcaraz pulls away from Jannik Sinner in the Race to Turin
The ATP Finals, currently held in Turin, will see the eight players who have accrued the most ATP points in the calendar year contest one final tournament in November.
Carlos Alcaraz, who already led the chasing pack, has pulled further clear following his victory in New York.
| Ranking | Player | 2025 ATP Points Accrued |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | 10,540 |
| 2 | Jannik Sinner | 7,950 |
| 3 | Novak Djokovic | 4,180 |
| 4 | Alexander Zverev | 4,180 |
| 5 | Ben Shelton | 3,710 |
| 6 | Taylor Fritz | 3,465 |
| 7 | Alex de Minaur | 3,145 |
| 8 | Lorenzo Musetti | 3,070 |
| 9 | Jack Draper | 2,990 |
| 10 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | 2,705 |
In fact, the Spaniard now leads second-place Jannik Sinner by 2,590 points.
Alcaraz’s numbers are staggering when considering his total is over double that of every other ATP Tour player, except Sinner.
