Sunday, September 7, 2025, in New York, Carlos Alcaraz tamed Jannik Sinner in the US Open final (6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4), reclaiming the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings and the top of the ATP Race, for a sixth Grand Slam. At 22, the Murcian imposes a total, explosive, and inventive tennis. Portrait of a champion who combines an ogre’s hunger, a child’s smile, and the Ferrero method, and whose rivalry with Sinner is reshaping the summit.
The New York champion and ATP No. 1
Sunday, September 7, 2025, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the city that revealed him. In four sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4), the Spaniard extinguished Jannik Sinner and reclaimed the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings (men’s singles), three years after his first triumph at Flushing Meadows. At 22, he now totals six Grand Slam titles, like Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, and is already settling into the album of certainties.
This triumph was not an improvised fireworks display: rather a revelation of his certainties. Service held under pressure, lightning diagonals, scalpel-like variations. Under the closed roof of the Arthur-Ashe Stadium, Alcaraz imposed his grammar: hit hard, think fast, always surprise.
US Open 2025: 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. No. 1 in the ATP rankings live. Total tennis: fine drop shots, supersonic forehands, clean volleys. Against Sinner, he leads 10–5 and sets the pace.
A Murcian shaped at the source
In El Palmar, a district of Murcia, he grew up with a racket in hand in a family club where his father, Carlos Alcaraz González, turned a passion into a profession. As a child, he crossed the courts like others head to the sea: by reflex. The clay strip of the Real Sociedad Club de Campo served as his playground and workshop. They tell of a shy kid, eager to finish his homework to hit balls until nightfall.
The work comes next, regulated like a metronome. The ITF and then Challenger tournaments lay the framework. In 2018, he turned pro. By spring 2021, he entered the Top 100. Two years would suffice to overturn the established order: first explosion at the US Open 2022, ascent to the rank of youngest No. 1 in history.
El Palmar as heritage, Murcia as compass. From ITF to US Open 2022, youngest No. 1 in history. Methodical work, intact joy: the game before the posture. The stubborn horizon now: conquer Australia.
Ferrero, the calm eye
In the benevolent shadow, Juan Carlos Ferrero, former No. 1 and winner of Roland-Garros 2003, holds the helm. The duo is built on a simple rule: do not confuse speed with haste. Ferrero carves out a discipline without excessive austerity, maintains hunger without wearing out pleasure. The rest is a continuous conversation: how to approach points, where to attack, when to slow down. They talk tactics, breathing, economy of effort. The sessions in Villena (province of Alicante) are a school of patience and precision.
The complete player
Alcaraz is a toolbox. Supersonic forehand, two-handed backhand that nails the line, economical slice, reliable volley, and drop shot like an ironic wink. He advances offbeat, comes to the net, returns to defense with cat-like footwork. His strength is not just power: it’s variation. He takes you out of rhythm when you thought you had him trapped in it.
The physique follows: sprinter’s legs, toned core, gaze that doesn’t blink at shifts. He loves long rallies but doesn’t fear the short shot. He knows how to close a set without trembling, restart a match when the other gains confidence. His tennis reflects his era: versatility, attention to every detail, obsession with adaptation. The grass of Wimbledon, the clay of Roland-Garros, the hard court of New York: three languages learned without an accent.
Jannik Sinner, mirror and spur
Facing Jannik Sinner, his exact contemporary, Alcaraz found a mirror that reflects light and flaws. Their rivalry, a classic in a flash, tells of a sport elevated: frantic tempo, precise trajectories, nerve duel. In New York, the Italian responded in sequences: a controlled second set, aggressive returns, the illusion of a reversal. But the third act turns into an Alcaraz demonstration; the fourth, into his management. Ten wins to five now in their confrontations: the balance is real, the current advantage is Spanish.
Magnetic rivalry with Jannik Sinner. Each tournament, a decisive episode, without hostility, with emulation. The Italian pushes Alcaraz to think faster. The Spaniard forces him out of the plan.
ATP No. 1, version 2.0
Reclaiming the throne after losing it says more than a scoreboard. It’s proof of mental endurance. Alcaraz had already established himself as a certainty in 2023–2024; he returns in 2025 with an added maturity. The arsenal has thickened, the bad days are less bad, the good days touch excellence. His team counts the invisible improvement: reading the opponent’s serve, first serve percentage, choice of zones on the second serve, weight of returns. The algorithm, as they say today, is continuously optimized.
The price of the whirlwind
His spectacular game has a cost: the demand to always stay on the edge of audacity. Sometimes the error lurks, the gesture overflows, the moment slips away. Ferrero watches, reframes, reminds that every drop shot must have a twin sister: the feint. Alcaraz has learned to manage weak moments, to lose a set without losing the thread. In New York, the suffocating effect was relentless: as soon as the foundation was reset, the options multiplied.
A collection on three surfaces
On the evening of his sixth Major, one thing is clear: the Spaniard is part of the club of those who have won multiple titles on hard, clay, and grass. At 22, he is already the second youngest in the Open era to count six Grand Slams. The sum says less than the manner: dominating on three courts means mastering three ecologies of the game, three speeds of rebound, three mental partitions.
London grass, Paris clay, New York hard: three tennis languages mastered. The same player, three game ecologies. Assumed creativity, pleasure of risk, new consistency. The Alcaraz style becomes the standard for juniors.
Australia, stubborn horizon
One thing remains missing: the Australian Open. Alcaraz does not hide it: the puzzle will be complete when Melbourne is added to the trio. The path is not a whim of the record but a desire for coherence: to win everywhere, in all winds. He knows the 2025 ATP calendar is tricky, the southern summer peculiar, the post-winter European transition delicate. He talks about objectives rather than promises, steps rather than destiny.
The man behind the titles
On the outside, nothing extravagant. A genuine smile, quiet politeness, an almost childlike joy in holding a trophy. He thanks his loved ones, thinks of his mother, Virginia Garfia, and his brothers, often returns to El Palmar to relax. A youth assumed but framed: training, recovery, bike rides, music, a few soccer games with childhood friends. On social media, he strikes the right balance: updates, little staging. The love of the game prevails, always.
What his tennis says about our era
Alcaraz arrives after the era of monuments (Nadal, Djokovic, Federer). Rather than carrying their shadow, he offers something else: a luminous, tactile, almost playful tennis. He places creativity at the heart of the high level, assumes risk and pleasure. He doesn’t copy; he samples. Here a volley like Becker, there a court coverage like Nadal, elsewhere an anticipation like Federer. With, everywhere, the signature of a boy raised in the era of highlights but obsessed with routine.
Express chronology
- 2018: turns pro.
- 2021: first titles on the circuit and entry into the Top 100.
- 2022: triumph at the US Open and first world No. 1.
- 2023–2024: titles at Wimbledon and Roland-Garros, completing the three surfaces.
- 2025: second US Open, return to the summit and leader of the ATP Race.
A style that has become a standard
Juniors are already copying his drop shots, his way of advancing on the second serve, this mix of ferocity and lightness. Coaches cite the service-plus-first-step sequence and the search for offbeat timing. Statisticians note the effect: more points won at the net, more short patterns, a high conversion rate on break points. The Spaniard, without dogma, allows himself to change the course of a match in two shots, sometimes in one.
The duel that keeps us on edge
Every meeting with Sinner is an anticipated episode. The counters tick, the stands fill, celebrities settle in and hold their breath. One sets the pace, the other the angle. The Italian, tenacious, pushes Alcaraz to think faster. The Spaniard, inventive, forces Sinner out of the plan. Nothing hostile: just emulation. Two prodigies, two temperaments, one same horizon: to last.
And now?
Next stop on the ATP calendar: Asian tour. There will be defeats, injuries, off nights. There will mainly be more finals. Moreover, there will be more New York nights. Furthermore, there will be more afternoons on the Paris Central and the London grass. Alcaraz promises nothing, he works. His margin still exists: better select his risks, save his kilometers, polish the relationship between instinct and statistics. The No. 1 spot is not a point of arrival but an observation post.
Carlos Alcaraz has not closed a chapter; he has just opened one where his name, already familiar, will be written in large letters. The boy from Murcia has made himself a future by playing as one breathes: free, precise, full.