Sinner Overcomes Auger-Aliassime to Reach US Open Final Against Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz had already secured his place in the US Open final after a straight-sets victory over Novak Djokovic (6-4, 7-6, 6-2) and was waiting to learn the identity of his opponent for Sunday’s championship match: either Jannik Sinner or Félix Auger-Aliassime.

The two players met for the fourth time on the main tour. So far, the Canadian leads 2–1 in head-to-head matchups, but Sinner had won their most recent encounter at the Cincinnati Masters just weeks earlier (6-0, 6-2).

Sinner got off to a strong start. The defending champion committed only four unforced errors in the first set and quickly pulled ahead to take the lead after 43 minutes.

The Canadian didn’t give up, however, and broke his opponent’s serve for the only time in the match during the second set to level the score, showing greater reliability on his own serve (no break points conceded in the second set).

But the Italian is world number one for a reason. After weathering that challenge, Sinner regained control of the match and proved effective on return in the final two sets (breaking once in each) to secure the win (6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 3 hours and 20 minutes).

The San Candido native has reached the final of every Grand Slam tournament this season and has now made the final of the last five Majors. In his bid to add a fifth title in this category to his record, Sinner will face his great rival, Carlos Alcaraz.

The two best players in the world, who had not faced each other in any Masters 1000 or Grand Slam final before the start of the 2025 season, have since battled for titles in Rome, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and Cincinnati since January, and will now clash in the US Open final.

Sinner and Alcaraz will meet for the third time in a Grand Slam final in 2025, becoming the first pair to achieve this feat in a single season during the Open Era.

In a season that has seen both players compete for the biggest tournaments, the stakes are high: beyond the winner claiming his second US Open title regardless, the champion will also take over as world number one.

Having held the top spot in men’s tennis uninterrupted since the end of Roland Garros in 2024, Sinner now faces his most serious challenge yet. To retain his number one ranking, he must defend his title against his greatest rival. Meanwhile, Alcaraz could become the first player in the Open Era to win the US Open without dropping a single set throughout the tournament.