How Carlos Alcaraz and his coach cracked the Jannik Sinner code at the US Open

When Alcaraz lost the 2025 Wimbledon final against Sinner, many thought the tide had turned and the Italian would now become the dominant player in their rivalry.

But that defeat sparked a major turnaround for Alcaraz and his team - led by coach Ferrero - as they went back to the drawing board and focused on every little detail to turn things around against the Italian.

Two months later, the endless practice sessions have paid off as Alcaraz produced a blistering display to beat his great rival in the US Open final.

After Alcaraz won the Rome and Roland Garros finals against Sinner in the space of a few weeks, the Italian turned the tables at Wimbledon as he was pretty ruthless in the final, winning in four sets.

Team Alcaraz then took an extended break after the grass-court season to prepare for the North American hard-court swing and the 22-year-old enjoyed great success as he won the Cincinnati Open final against Sinner â- although they only played five games as the Italian retired due to illness â- before his brilliant display in the US Open final where he secured a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win.

So how did they solve the Sinner puzzle?

Former world No. 1 Ferrero explained: "Let's say we watched a little bit the matches from Roland Garros and Wimbledon and we try to see the little things that we can improve to play in future matches against Jannik.

"And I think it was very important because we maybe practiced for 15 days, like very focused on the details that we have to improve to play against Jannik. And we know that in this kind of surface on hard courts, Jannik is always very, very difficult to play and wins a lot of matches.

"So, yeah, I think it helps a lot because he realised what he has to improve a lot. And I was very focused on it."

When asked to give more details about the plan, he joked: "Cannot, cannot. I cannot for sure. [Sinner's coach] Simone [Vagnozzi] will hear about it."

There is one aspect of Alcaraz's game that has certainly improved and Ferrero is happy to talk about it as the Spaniard's dominant serve has now helped him to win a lot of easy points.

"Yeah, this change, it comes from the Australian Open. I think we, you know, in past December we decided to change a little bit his movement of the serve and you know, we knew that we needed some time to get, you know, working on court," he said.

"I think in this moment is maybe the moment that he has more improvement in his serve and that is it's been very useful on the court. An important moment. He's using it a lot during the Cincinnati Open and also during the US Open. I think the server is one of the keys to win the tournament for sure."

There is no doubt that Alcaraz has matured as a player and as a person in the past few years, but Ferrero has a warning both for the player and his rivals as we haven't seen the youngster at his peak just yet.

"He's the same [person], he's not changing many things. I mean, I think he's growing up," the Spaniard said. "I mean it's the way, you know, you turn more years is the way of life. Nature thinks that it comes so. But yeah, I think we have very clear what he has to improve on court and off the court.

"And I think he's more mature to believe that if he does this kind of things, he can improve much better than for the future."

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