NEW YORK (AP) — Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have played so often, and with so much at stake lately, that they both know the other's game so well.
So is the No. 1-seeded Sinner, a 24-year-old from Italy, happy to be facing No. 2 Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, on Sunday at the U.S. Open for the championship, the first time in tennis history the same two men will meet in three consecutive Grand Slam finals within one season?
Well, yes and no.
"We are aware of maybe more things, because him or me, we try to prepare the match tactically and in different ways," said Sinner, who dismissed any concern about an abdominal muscle issue that arose in his semifinal win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. "But sometimes, it's also nice to not play against him."
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This hard-court showdown — with the winner also taking the top ranking — follows Alcaraz's victory over Sinner erasing a trio of match points on the French Open's red clay in June for his fifth Grand Slam title and Sinner's victory over Alcaraz on Wimbledon's grass in July for his fourth.
"It's great for the sport having rivalries," said Sinner, trying to become the first man to repeat as the champ in New York since 2008, when Roger Federer won his fifth U.S. Open in a row. "I'm someone who loves these challenges, and I love to put myself in these positions."
Sinner almost unbeatable — except against Alcaraz
Sinner has been close to unbeatable the last two seasons — except against Alcaraz, who leads their head-to-head series 9-5.
Sinner is into a fifth straight Slam final, dating to his title at the U.S. Open a year ago, and he's 33-1 at majors in that span, the lone blemish against Alcaraz in Paris.
Since the start of 2024, at all events, Sinner is 1-6 against Alcaraz and 109-4 against all other opponents.
Since the start of this May, Alcaraz is 36-1, with the loss coming against Sinner at the All England Club — also Alcaraz's first defeat in a Slam final. Alcaraz leads the tour in wins (60) and titles (six) in 2025 and has reached the finals at his past eight tournaments.
"It's something that I'm working on, just the consistency on the matches, on the tournaments, on the year, in general. Just not having up-and-downs in the match. Just the level that I start the match, just wanted to keep that level really high during the whole match," Alcaraz said Friday after beating Novak Djokovic.
"So I'm thinking I'm doing that in this tournament, which I'm really proud about," added Alcaraz, who hasn't dropped a set over these two weeks, thanks in part to an ever-improving serve. "Probably, I'm just getting mature."
Sinner and Alcaraz expect adjustments in final
Knowing each other so well means that Alcaraz and Sinner figure they will make — and see — some tweaks in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where they first faced off in the 2022 quarterfinals, a victory for Alcaraz in a match that ended at 2:50 a.m. on his way to his first Grand Slam title. (Of note: Federer and Rafael Nadal never met once at the U.S. Open.)
"Surely, Carlos will try to do something different than he did in the Wimbledon final. And we need to prepare for that. … We'll have to come up with some small tactical changes, too," said Simone Vagnozzi, one of Sinner's two coaches. "There are always adjustments. And there will be some during this match, so we always have to be ready. Carlos, we know, can vary things a lot and try different tactics."
There is plenty of history to study.
"I will see what I did wrong, what I did great, in the (past) matches," Alcaraz said, "just to approach the final in a good way."
They are far and away the best men's tennis has to offer, no matter the surface.
Whoever wins Sunday, it will be the eighth straight major that ends with Sinner or Alcaraz receiving the trophy.
"We are players who are pretty complete, I'd say," Sinner said. "We can change the way we play. He, I think, he does it better in his way. I make my adjustments in my way."
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
