To mark the end of another exciting season, ATPTour.com unveils our annual ‘Best Of’ series, which will reflect on the most intriguing rivalries, matches, comebacks, upsets and more. This week we look at the best rivalries of the year.
The rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner has quickly become a must-watch TV not only for tennis fans, but also for sports enthusiasts, offering a true ‘expect the unexpected’ experience. They met six times in 2025, with Alcaraz winning four times and extending his Lexus ATP Head2Head lead to 10-6 against the Italian.
ATPTour.com summarizes their six clashes this season.
Rome Final, Alcaraz d. Sinner 7-6(5), 6-1
While Sinner aimed to become the first male Italian champion in Rome since 1976 (Adriano Panatta), Alcaraz crashed the match in a pulsating showdown at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Sinner, playing his first event since lifting the Australian Open trophy, looked set to seize the opening set when he held two set points on the return at 6-5, but an unforced forehand error and a mistimed backhand left the door ajar.
Alcaraz weathered the storm and found his best tennis of the tournament to break Sinner’s 26-match winning streak and capture his first Rome trophy. The Spaniard used his slice serve on the Deuce side to great effect, hitting 19 winners compared to Sinner’s seven. It was a hard-fought victory to take another win in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Sinner.
“He has that look,” Alcaraz said of Sinner. “When you see him on the other side of the net, it’s different. That’s why I definitely feel like people put so much, – how should I put this – pressure on both of us in a certain way when we face each other.”
Final Roland Garros, Alcaraz d. Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2)
Alcaraz staged a comeback for the ages on Court Philippe-Chatrier, coming back from two sets down to save three championship points to stun Sinner in the longest men’s final in Roland Garros history. The five-hour, 29-minute epic saw experts debate the place of the best matches ever.
With three straight championship points at 3-5, 0/40 in the fourth set, Alcaraz summoned every ounce of grit to somehow hold serve before breaking Sinner in the next game and turning the match on its head.
As the deafening roar of the crowd echoed in the Paris night, Alcaraz once again showed his determination in the final set. After failing to serve out the match at 5-4, he regrouped for a final and decisive push. In the first Roland Garros final, decided by a tie-break in the fifth set, Alcaraz delivered an impeccable performance when it mattered most. He became the third man in the Open Era to save a championship point (Novak Djokovic, Gaston Gaudio) at a major and lift the title.
Many will remember the fifth set tiebreak where Alcaraz was near his peak, crushing winner after winner, including a screaming forehand pass to clinch the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
“I think the real champions are made in situations where you deal with that pressure, with those situations, in the best possible way,” Alcaraz reflected.
<img alt=”
Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Wimbledon Final, Sinner d. Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Five weeks after his heartbreak at Roland Garros, Sinner made a triumphant comeback to beat two-time defending champion Alcaraz in four sets to claim his first Wimbledon title.
Many eyes at the All England Club were on how Sinner would respond to such a devastating defeat against his biggest rival. After losing four games to 4-2 in the opening set, the Italian rallied with steely determination to hand Alcaraz their first defeat in a major final.
Despite five consecutive losses against Alcaraz at the time, Sinner opted for a daring approach. The longer the rally, the harder he hit the ball, without losing consistency. Sinner had to make big cuts upon his return to put pressure on Alcaraz, while holding his own with a good portion. The final set was a Sinner grass tennis masterclass. He dropped just one run off his first delivery and converted all nine net runs to be crowned champion.
“It’s especially emotional because I suffered a very heavy defeat in Paris,” Sinner said during the trophy presentation. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or lose at important tournaments. You just have to understand what you did wrong and try to work on it, and that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and just kept working. This is certainly one of the reasons why I’m holding this trophy here.”
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS ❤️<a href="https://twitter.com/janniksin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@janniksin | #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/WqPYkmGSDf— ATP tour (@atptour) July 13, 2025
Final of Cincinnati, Alcaraz d. Sinner 5-0 [ret.]
A highly anticipated final at the Cincinnati Open in August came to an abrupt end. In the early stages, Sinner seemed unwell and looked physically exhausted in the sweltering heat. The Italian called the doctor after being 0-5 behind. Unable to continue, Sinner retired after just 23 minutes of action.
“As of yesterday, I wasn’t feeling great,” Sinner said as he apologized to the fans. “I thought I would get better as the night went on, but it got worse. I tried to get out of it, tried to at least make it a little game, but that was all I could handle.”
Alcaraz, who consoled the ailing Sinner after they shook hands, claimed his first Cincinnati crown and his eighth ATP Masters 1000 title, the most of any active player besides Novak Djokovic (40). Alcaraz was looking for redemption in Cincinnati, where he dropped a championship point against Djokovic in 2023 in one of the most exciting finals in Masters 1000 history.
“Ever since I lost that final in 2023, I really wanted this trophy,” Alcaraz said. “I’m just really proud and happy that I can lift it.”
Final US Open, Alcaraz d. Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Each of the six meetings between Alcaraz and Sinner this season took place in the final, with the next title clash between the two rivals taking place at the US Open. In a high-stakes encounter, Alcaraz not only denied Sinner’s title defense at Flushing Meadows, but also replaced Sinner as world No. 1, ending the Italian’s 65-week debut.
A confident Alcaraz unleashed fierce blows from both wings to double the number of winners as Sinner (42 to 21). The Spaniard dictated many of the rallies and never loosened his grip behind his serve. He lost just nine runs behind his first delivery in a clinical performance. Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero later described his attack’s performance as “perfect”, a judgment echoed by the now six-time champion Alcaraz.
“He always wants me to play my best, and not too often would I say that he said that, that I played perfect. So for me it’s a great win,” Alcaraz said. “But yeah, he’s right. I think I played perfect. I played perfect.”
This year marked the second straight season in which Alcaraz and Sinner shared the four Slams, meaning they have won eight majors in a row between them.
“I think we push each other to the limit every time,” Alcaraz said of his rivalry with Sinner. “My training is just about seeing how I can be better by beating Jannik. So I think the rivalry is special, splitting Grand Slams, fighting for great things.”
CHAMPION AGAIN? NUMBER ONE, AGAIN??<br><br> Alcaraz triumphs in New York, lifts the trophy again AND regains his place as world number 1 in the PIF ATP rankings with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Sinner?@usopen | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/jKOqQMGS7E— ATP tour (@atptour) September 7, 2025
Nitto ATP Final Championship Match, Sinner d. Alcaraz 7-6(4), 7-5
A season of double supremacy deserved nothing less than a final act on the sport’s most electric indoor stage, the Nitto ATP Finals. Under the lights, in a crackling Turin atmosphere, Sinner delivered redline tennis from the first ball to the last.
Sinner’s biggest weapon was his serve. After making a number of technical adjustments to his serve after the US Open, the Italian’s adjustments proved effective. In a tight opening set, Sinner erased a set point with an ice-cold second serve of 187 km/h. With pinpoint accuracy all week, during which he didn’t drop a set, Sinner gave Alcaraz little to no breathing room behind his revamped delivery. Sinner won 84 percent of his first grind points against Alcaraz and finished the week with a perfect 5-0 record and a record $5,071,000 payout for the champion.
“In tennis you have control over one stroke, and that’s the serve,” Sinner’s coach Darren Cahill said. “Jannik and Simone [Vagnozzi] “I’ve done an incredible amount of work over the last four or five weeks to adjust the serve and find that rhythm and pace where he’s been able to increase the first-serve percentage.”
Sinner reflected on his last game of the season: “I feel like I’m a better player than last year, I think that’s the most important thing. It’s all part of the process. I always say and believe that if you keep working and trying to become a better player, the results will come. This year it was like that.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]
#Rivalry #Alcaraz #Sinner