Alcaraz vs Sinner: Who will challenge the dominance in world tennis?

Alcaraz Consolidates His Dominance at the US Open 2025: The Beginning of a New Era?

Carlos Alcaraz celebrated euphorically on the court after conquering the title of the US Open 2025, defeating his rival Jannik Sinner. The victory, achieved in front of 24,000 spectators at Arthur Ashe Stadium, marked his sixth Grand Slam title and solidified his position at the top of world tennis. The final, a highly anticipated match with sky-high ticket prices and the world number one at stake, saw Alcaraz prevail with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. This was the third consecutive encounter in a Grand Slam final between Alcaraz and Sinner, a rivalry that has defined current men’s tennis. Both players, although fierce competitors on the court, maintain a genuine friendship off it, as demonstrated in their gestures of mutual respect after the match.

“I see you more than my family,” Alcaraz joked during the trophy ceremony, addressing Sinner.

Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz’s victory highlights the generational transition in tennis, with the dominance of the “Sincaraz” (Sinner + Alcaraz) at the top of the sport. The duo has won the last eight Grand Slam titles, with four victories each.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have won the last eight Grand Slam titles.

The road to this final was full of challenges. Novak Djokovic, the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles, acknowledged the difficulty of facing Alcaraz and Sinner in the final stages of the tournaments. “We know they are the two best players in the world,” Djokovic stated before the final.

In the US Open, Alcaraz and Sinner demonstrated overwhelming dominance. Alcaraz won 98% of his service games, while Sinner achieved a 42% success rate in return games. The question now arises as to whether any other player will be able to break the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner in the near future. Players like Ben Shelton and Joao Fonseca are seen as possible contenders, but the task of dethroning the dominant duo seems monumental. The 2025 season marks the first time since 2002 that no member of the “Big Three” (Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal) reached a Grand Slam final, evidencing the changing of the guard in tennis.

“We know they are the two best players in the world,” said Novak Djokovic at the US Open.The consistency of Medvedev, who reached six Grand Slam finals between 2019 and 2024, but has struggled this year, is a testament to the demands of maintaining a high level in elite tennis. With Alcaraz and Sinner at their peak, the question is whether anyone will be able to challenge their dominance. The future of men’s tennis seems to be in the hands of this duo, although the history of the sport always leaves room for surprises. Alcaraz’s victory at the 2025 US Open is a clear indication of the shift in power in world tennis, marking the beginning of a new era of shared dominance with Jannik Sinner.Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while Alcaraz took the Wimbledon and US Open titles this year.The tennis world remains in anticipation, wondering if anyone will be able to break the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner in the near future. Players like Ben Shelton and Joao Fonseca are seen as possible contenders, but the task of dethroning the dominant duo seems monumental. Alcaraz’s victory at the 2025 US Open is a clear indication of the shift in power in world tennis. With his victory on Sunday, Alcaraz will take the number 1 spot in Sinner’s ranking. During the US Open, both players demonstrated dominant play. Before the final, both had won at least 95% of their service games, with Alcaraz at 98%. Sinner won 42% of his return games, while Alcaraz won approximately a third of his. Each had three matches in their respective careers that lasted two hours or less. After Sinner handed a defeat to Alexander Bublik, the number 23 seed, by 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 in just 81 minutes, a shocked but amused Bublik congratulated him at the net saying: “You are very good. I’m not bad, what the hell?”

Alcaraz’s opponents had similar feelings. “I’ll just say that I think I met the Grand Slam version of Carlos today,” said the number 20 seed, Jiri Lehecka, after losing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. “That’s how I’d like to think about it, because yes, it was a tough match.”

Meeting in Sunday’s final marked only the second time in the Open Era that two men have won all the major titles in two seasons, joining Federer and Nadal in 2006 and 2007. The pair became the first men in the Open Era to play in three consecutive major finals during the same calendar year, and the first duo in the sport to do so since Venus and Serena Williams in 2002. Of course, tennis can be a fickle sport and things can change quickly. For several years, Medvedev seemed to be the next big thing and among the apparent heirs to replace the Big Three. He reached six major finals between 2019 and 2024, won the 2021 US Open and even briefly held the world number 1 ranking. But this year, he won only one match in a Slam and was defeated in the first round at the French Open, at Wimbledon and during this fortnight at the US Open. While Medvedev could certainly change things in 2026, and Sinner and Alcaraz have shown no signs of a future decline, the current struggles of the 29-year-old player are simply proof of how difficult it is to maintain such a high level for a prolonged period.

At this point, while the pair is in a category of its own and is the clear favorite for almost everything in the future, anyone can guess what will happen. And just as Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, and Juan Martin del Potro found a way to win on the most important stages in the era of Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal, there is also room for someone else in the current tennis ecosystem.

“I think Sinner and Alcaraz will dominate in the next three or four years,” said former US Open quarterfinalist and ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe. “Do I think they’re going to win every single one? No.”