“When you achieve the goals you set up for yourself at the beginning of the year, it feels amazing,” said a jubilant Carlos Alcaraz after declaring his supremacy over arch rival Jannik Sinner in New York. Playing in front of more than 20,000 fans, the Spaniard had two main objectives to accomplish. Winning a second US Open trophy and snatching his No.1 spot back from the Italian. Guess what? He did it in style, dismissing the former No.1’s challenge in 2 hours and 42 minutes. Interestingly, winning his sixth slam and dethroning Sinner from pole position aren’t the only milestones achieved by Alcaraz. He’s now on the verge of surpassing him in one more department.

Remember how Sinner mesmerized everyone last season with his staggering singles record? In 79 tour matches, he won 73 while accumulating an unbelievable winning percentage of 92.40. He won two majors in 2024 (Australian Open and US Open) while clinching the year-end ATP Finals tournament too. “My goal was to understand what I can achieve this year. There was no specific goal of winning a Grand Slam or being No. 1 or whatever. It’s going to be the same next year: Whatever we can catch, we take, and the rest we learn.”

Now, Alcaraz has got in that same position (slightly better actually). He has already won 61 of his 67 ATP matches in 2025 – losing just six overall. That brings his winning percentage this season to a whopping 91.04. And guess what? He’s still got a lot of ATP events to compete in moving forward. Which means he can easily surpass Sinner’s astonishing 2024 figure of 92.40.

In the last five years, Alcaraz’s seasonal performance has improved vastly. It was 50 percent in 2020, 65.3 percent in 2021, 81.4 percent in 2022, and 84.4 percent in 2023. Only last year it dipped a bit, at 80.5 percent. But he’s made a sensational jump this time, driven by his triumph at the French Open, US Open, and other ATP events like Rotterdam, Monte Carlo, Italian Open, Queen’s Club, and Cincinnati Open.

After he dethroned Sinner and took back his No.1 position at the Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz was candid about what he’d set out to achieve: “Since I got the chance to recover the No. 1, it was one of the first goals that I had during the season, just to try to recover the No. 1 as soon as possible or end the year as the No. 1. To achieve that once again, it is a dream. Doing it the same day as getting another Grand Slam feels even better. It’s everything I’m working for, and I’m really happy to be able to live these experiences.”

On the other hand, his rival was left clueless on what exactly went wrong against Alcaraz this time. Especially after he bested him just two months ago on grass at Wimbledon.

Jannik Sinner on his performance against Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open final

For the uninitiated, Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Jannik Sinner was special for another reason. He became the only player to finally put a full stop on the Italian’s winning streak on the hard court surface since 2024. Not to mention that the World No.1 also registered his 10th overall win in ATP encounters over Sinner.

While Sinner lost the opportunity to stay on top and defend his US Open title, he was upset for a different reason altogether. The Italian, who appears to be a near-perfect “machine” against the rest, failed to overpower his biggest rival. But why? Analyzing his performance, he confessed, “I was very predictable today. On court, in the way he did many things, he changed up the game. That’s also his style of how he plays. Now it’s going to be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know? Definitely we are going to work on that.”

The Italian then vowed to make a comeback while changing his “predictable” side against Alcaraz. Even if it means to lose matches. “I’m going to aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes trying to be a bit more unpredictable,” he added. “Because I think that’s what I have to do, trying to become a better player.”

It will be intriguing to see whether the World No.2 can really prove his point the next time he faces Alcaraz this season. Do you think he will be able to change his playing style and conquer the Spaniard? Let us know in the comments below.