Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz make history before US Open final, first pair to…

It might be early into their careers, but the pair of young superstars are already racking up a host of records, not just as individuals but also as a pair in a rivalry. The biggest indication of this is that for the first time in the Open Era of tennis, three different grand slam singles finals in a yea has the exact same fixture: Alcaraz and Sinner faced off in their first ever grand slam final against each other at Roland Garros, had a revenge match in Wimbledon, and now are playing in their decider for 2025 at the US Open.

This is also the first time since 2012 that two players are clashing in three consecutive slam finals since Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal booked out the finals for a stretch of four grand slams between Wimbledon 2011 and Roland Garros 2012.

Jannik Sinner joins a list of all-time greats

Sinner also marks history thanks to his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semifinal. This was his 300th career win, and his 87th at the grand slam level: he is now the Italian man with the most grand slam wins. What is remarkable is that Sinner has now marked himself as the youngest men’s player to reach all four slam finals in a calendar year: this feat has been achieved by Rod Laver, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic, but none were as young as Jannik Sinner at 24 years and 22 days old on the day of the final.

Sinner also joins the big three of Federer, Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal as the only men with five consecutive grand slam final appearances. Nadal reached five straight in 2011-12, Djokovic six straight in 2015-16, and Federer a whopping 10 consecutive grand slam finals during his pomp in 2005-2007.

Sinner also has the opportunity to match Federer if he wins the final against Alcaraz on Sunday: no man has successfully defended his US Open crown since Federer won five consecutive tournaments in New York, and nobody except Federer has done the Australia-US hard court double in consecutive years. Sinner has the chance to achieve both.

The final will be an opportunity for Sinner to draw level with Alcaraz on five grand slam titles, or for the Spaniard to pull clear. It is also a chance for Alcaraz to wrestle back the world number one title: he achieved it with a win at the 2022 US Open, where he became the youngest men’s world number one. Can Sinner hold him off for just a little while longer?

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