Carlos Alcaraz, in the face of unique performance in professional tennis at the final with Jannik Sinner from the US Open
Article by Maria Olteanu – published on Sunday, September 7, 2025, 10:03 / Updated Sunday, September 7, 2025 10:03
Carlos Alcaraz (22 years old, 2 ATP) plays Sunday evening, from 9:00 pm, in the US Open final against Jannik Sinner (24 years, 1 ATP). The two rivals face the third Grand Slam tournament in the final. Alcaraz has the chance to achieve in the final a performance that no other professional tennis players has succeeded so far: the end of the major tournament at Flushing Meadows without a lost set!
Alcaraz had a difficult start of the competitive year, managing to reach and win the final only at ABN AMRO OPEN from Rotterdam in the first months. However, with the beginning of the season on the slag, in April, the Spaniard seemed close to undefeated. At the US Open, he is at the end of the consecutive final. Of the previous seven, he won five and lost two. Only Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner have managed to defeat him since.
In New York, Alcaraz had dream developments. He passed Reilly Opelka, Mattia Bellucci, Luciano Darderi, Arthur Rinderknech, Jiri Lehecka and Novak Djokovic, reaching his first finals at the US Open in 2022. Then he won the first Grand Slam title, out of the five now.
Alcaraz sometimes has the tendency to lose his concentration during matches, but this has not happened to this year's New York. He has not lost any set on his way to the final and can thus achieve a unique performance in the male professional era.
Title at US Open without a lost set?
He was a “professional” in tennis in 1968, and since then no player won the US Open without losing a set. During the amateurs, this happened several times, but long before. Richard Sears succeeded in 1881, 1882 and 1883, Tony Trabert in 1953 and 1955, and Neale Fraser was the last to succeeded in 1960, according to Sportnuws.nl.
Alcaraz can become the third tennis player in this century that manages to win a Grand Slam tournament without a lost set and the first to do this at the last major tour of the year. Only Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won the Grand Slam without losing the set.
Alcaraz's compatriot succeeded four times, each time at Roland Garros. Nadal won the title in Paris in 2008, 2010, 2017 and 2020 without losing a set. Federer remained flawless twice at a Grand Slam: in 2007 at the Australian Open and in 2017 at Wimbledon.
The dream final against Sinner
However, it will be an extremely difficult task for Alcaraz to win the title without a lost set. His opponent in the final is a major than the six previous opponents in New York. Alcaraz meets Sinner in the final for the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament. At Roland Garros, the Spaniard won after a five -set palpitant, but at Wimbledon the Italian was the best.
The two only met at the US Open. In 2022, they faced in the quarterfinals. Sinner then had a match ball, but finally Alcaraz managed to win the game after more than five hours of tennis. The last point played long after midnight. The Spaniard won a few days later and his first Grand Slam title, thus conquering the world number 1 position. This position is also in the game on Sunday, in the final between Sinner and Alcaraz.
