Defending US Open champion Jannik Sinner paints Carlos Alcaraz as the Flushing Meadows favourite

The Italian and Alcaraz have dominated men's tennis for more than two years as they won the four Grand Slams last year with Sinner successful at the Australian Open and US Open while the Spaniard won trophies at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

And that theme has so far continued in 2025 with Sinner successfully defending his crown at Melbourne Park and Alcaraz doing likewise at the French Open before the Italian won their battle in the final at Wimbledon to capture his fourth major.

That win on the grass at the All England Club was the 24-year-old's only victory since the start of the 2024 season with Alcaraz also winning finals at the China Open last year, this year's Italian Open, French Open and most recently the Cincinnati Open.

He now leads their head-to-head rivalry 9-5, and his wins have been spread across hard courts, clay and hard courts.

"I feel like he is an all-round player," the reigning US Open champion said of Alcaraz. "I think we have seen that on many, many occasions, and winning Roland Garros and winning Wimbledon and winning here. You know, it shows that he knows how to play on every surface.

"I've seen the match here, and he's playing very, very good and not missing barely any shots at the moment. So he's confident.

"It makes it very difficult to play against him, because tactically you prepare matches in different ways depending on where you play.

"He is a big favourite in every tournament where he plays because he has so many solutions and game styles he can provide and he can solve problems with.

"There are many, many things which make him so difficult to play against, but it's great for the sport. It's good to have someone like Carlos, entertaining and great to watch, and that's what people love."

The two are top of everyone's list to win this year's US Open and they can only meet in the final with Sinner the top seed and Alcaraz headlining the bottom half of the draw as the second seed.

Sinner is the defending champion at Flushing Meadows and he has dropped behind Alcaraz in the Live Rankings as he is defending 2,000 points from 2024 while Alcaraz dropped only 50 points after his early exit 12 months ago.

But the world No 1 has an interesting outlook.

"I always say it's I'm not defending, you know, I'm always chasing because every tournament you start with zero on the first round. And if you don't play well, you are out at the tournament, you know, so, you know, you are chasing, you know, for, for the trophies or good performances," the Italian said.

"And that's what I'm trying to do. Obviously, I know how much is on the line here in this tournament and for the year end, but in the other way, you know, I'm looking to play as good as I can and then we see the outcome.

"Now, the rest I cannot really control. Australia helped me a little bit trying to understand. Yes, but in the other way, you know, the situation is different, conditions are different, and the mental part is also different because, you know, you grow from the beginning of the year and now you are nearly at the end of the year."

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