Alcaraz beats Sinner in New York to reclaim No 1 spot

Spaniard easily conquers out-of-sorts Italian in US Open final

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD AT ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM

As men’s tennis has entered a new dawn, an undeniable truth has remained about the two best players in the world. From week to week, Jannik Sinner has mostly been unbeatable. But when Carlos Alcaraz finds his top level, no one, including Sinner, can stop him. In a US Open final that saw Alcaraz and Sinner face each other for the title in a third consecutive grand slam, the Spaniard completed his best-ever performance across a major tournament to demolish his rival, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reclaim the world No 1 ranking.

Even the presence of Donald Trump, which caused the final to be delayed and forced it to start in front of thousands of empty seats as fans waited to pass through additional security checks outside, could not take the attention away from Alcaraz when he hit his spellbinding best.

Eight weeks on from Sinner’s win over Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Alcaraz ended the Italian’s winning run in the hard-court grand slams at 27 matches, revenge served with a display of thumping serves and brilliant shot-making. Sinner was subdued, but Alcaraz was too good, with this his sixth win over his rival in their last seven meetings.

And so it is fitting that Alcaraz regains the world No 1 ranking for the first time since September 2023, knocking Sinner off top spot after 65 consecutive weeks. The Spaniard remains on a trajectory towards being considered among the greatest players of all time, becoming the second-youngest man to reach six grand slam titles, after Bjorn Borg, at the age of 22.