Sinner will take on Alcaraz for a 3rd Grand Slam final in a row

NEW YORK: Carlos Alcaraz was about to start a series of TV interviews to discuss the way he used his youth, athleticism and creativity to beat the much more accomplished, but also much older, Novak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in the US Open semifinals Friday.

First, though, Alcaraz asked everyone to hold on for a moment. He pulled his cell phone out of a pocket so he could check the score of Jannik Sinner’s semifinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime. It was still only the first set of that match, but you’ve got to keep tabs on your biggest rival, right?

A few hours later, Sinner would finish off his 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Auger-Aliassime, establishing the Flushing Meadows final that somehow seemed inevitable, even if unprecedented: No. 1 Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz will meet Sunday to decide the US Open champion, marking the first time the same two men have played each other in three consecutive Grand Slam finals within one season.

“These two players,” said Djokovic, a 24-time major champion, “are the best in the world right now.”

No doubt about that. They have established themselves as far and away the elite men in the game.

No matter Sunday’s result, the duo will have split the past eight major trophies and taken 10 of the past 13. Their career totals: Alcaraz owns five Slam titles, Sinner four.

And the No. 1 ranking will be on the line Sunday, when President Donald Trump plans to attend.

Alcaraz defeated Sinner at the French Open in June; Sinner defeated Alcaraz at Wimbledon in July.

Sinner is trying to become the first repeat men’s champion in New York since Roger Federer won the hard-court tournament five years in a row from 2004 through 2008. Sinner also has made it to five straight Grand Slam finals, a stretch that started at the US Open 12 months ago.

Alcaraz hasn’t dropped a set as he pursues his sixth major title and second at Flushing Meadows.

“It’s something that I’m working on, just the consistency on the matches, on the tournaments, on the year, in general. Just not having up-and-downs in (a) match,” Alcaraz said. “Probably, I’m just getting mature, just getting to know myself much better, what I need on, off the court.”

Since the start of 2024, Sinner is 1-6 against Alcaraz — and 109-4 against anyone else.

“We have played quite a lot this year,” Sinner said. “So we know each other very well.”

Alcaraz had lost his two most recent matches against Djokovic — in the gold-medal final at the Paris Olympics last year, and in the Australian Open quarterfinals this January.

“It’s not easy playing against him,” Alcaraz said. “I’m thinking about the legend; what he has achieved in his career. It’s difficult not to think about it.”

But by the end, Djokovic was “gassed out,” as he described it afterward, and seemed resigned to the result. The 38-year-old from Serbia reached the semifinals at all four Slams this season but exited in that round each time, three via losses to No. 2 Alcaraz, 22, or Sinner, 24.