Defending champion Jannik Sinner overcame a spirited challenge from 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Friday’s U.S. Open semi-final to set up a blockbuster final against Carlos Alcaraz.
Moments after Alcaraz dazzled the Arthur Ashe crowd with a dominant win over 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, Sinner – typically known for his clinical precision – had a few stumbles but ultimately held firm to book a third consecutive Grand Slam final meeting with the Spaniard in what has become one of tennis’s most captivating rivalries.
Sinner’s gritty win places him in elite company, as he becomes just the fourth man in the Open Era – after Rod Laver, Roger Federer and Djokovic – to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a single season.
“Amazing season. The Grand Slams are the most important tournaments we have and finding myself again in another final, especially the last one this season, with an amazing crowd… it doesn’t get any better,” Sinner said after the win.
“Felix and I played in the last tournament (in Cincinnati). He’s a completely different player. He was serving much better, hitting every shot much better so it was a tough match but I’m obviously very happy.
“I saw he was injured at some point so hopefully it’s nothing bad. I wish him only the best. He’s an amazing player and an amazing person so it’s always nice to share some nice matches with him.”
Sinner encountered a brief challenge in the fifth game of the match but quickly raised his level to hold serve, eventually cruising through a dominant opening set after Auger-Aliassime sent a backhand wide.
Alcaraz beats Djokovic
Second seed Carlos Alcaraz took down 24-time Major winner Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2 with clinical precision to reach the U.S. Open final on Friday, prevailing in a blockbuster showdown that packed the house at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The match was billed as the hottest ticket in New York and lived up to the hype, with a scoreline that belied its intensity, as the 2022 champion Alcaraz soaked in deafening cheers on match point.
Djokovic had won their two most recent meetings, including in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open earlier this year, but the 38-year-old showed wear-and-tear against the Spaniard, 16 years his junior.
“Once again in the final of the U.S. Open, it feels amazing and it means a lot to me,” said Alcaraz, who hit twice as many winners as his opponent. “I had to play a really physical match.”
Djokovic dropped his serve when he sent a shot past the baseline in the opening game and was unable to set up a single break point chance in the first set, which Alcaraz closed out with an unreturnable serve.
Urged on by the celebrity-packed stands, the seventh seed got in the fight in the second set, sending over a superb backhand to convert on break point in the second game.
However, Alcaraz put his foot on the gas in the fifth game, setting up a break point after surviving a 16-shot rally with a forehand winner and converting on the chance from the baseline.
Down 0-2 in the tiebreak, Djokovic outlasted his opponent in a cheeky exchange at the net and paused to take in the roars of the crowd, a reminder of the Serb’s perennial appeal two decades after his Flushing Meadows main draw debut.
But the Spaniard kept his nerve, closing out the tiebreak with two more unreturnable serves before Djokovic gifted him a break point with a double fault in the fourth game of the third set.
The writing was on the wall for Djokovic as he hit another double fault on the penultimate point of the match and he leaned on the net as he congratulated his opponent with a grin after handing over the contest with a wide forehand.
Alcaraz will next play either defending champion Jannik Sinner or Canadian 25th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.