Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s rivalry has already blossomed into one of the best in tennis history.
Novak Djokovic is the last player not named Alcaraz or Sinner to win a men’s Grand Slam singles title: at the 2023 US Open.
Since then, the pair have won seven Grand Slam singles titles combined, and could continue this streak at the 2025 US Open.
Most recently, the Spaniard and Italian contested the Cincinnati Open final. Alcaraz won the match after Sinner retired in the first set due to illness.
Patrick Mouratoglou, the former coach of Serena Williams, has picked his US Open favourite between Alcaraz and Sinner.
Patrick Mouratoglou says Jannik Sinner has the ‘edge’ over Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open
Patrick Mouratoglou, who recently parted ways with Naomi Osaka, regularly comments on the current affairs of tennis via his Instagram page.
The Frenchman, who has also worked with Simona Halep and Holger Rune, has explained his reasoning for giving Jannik Sinner the ‘edge’ over Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open.
He said: “At the moment, there are two favourites for every Grand Slam. It’s Alcaraz and Sinner.
“I think this victory of Sinner in Wimbledon was extremely important, because it was five times in a row that Alcaraz beat him before that.
“Now it’s completely different. He has the taste of beating him in a Grand Slam final. So this will give an edge to Sinner.
“But they are so close in terms of level with completely different games, completely different ways to handle situations. If they keep that level, they will always be the two huge favourites.”
Mouratoglou picks Ben Shelton as his ‘number one dark horse’
Mouratoglou has also selected his ‘number one dark horse’ for the US Open Men’s Singles title: Ben Shelton.
This is an understandable pick considering Shelton’s recent success at the Canadian Open. The American will also have the support of a raucous home crowd, who will cheer on their young star regardless of the match scenario.
Shelton has proved himself as a certified elite-level ATP Tour player in 2025, having featured in the second week of every Grand Slam so far and broken into the ATP top-10 for the first time.
Mouratoglou said: “There are some guys who can maybe do something. First one I think of his Ben Shelton, who just won his first Masters 1000, who is American, who will be in the US, who will fear nobody.
“He is for me the number one dark horse.”
