Carlos Alcaraz became a six-time Grand Slam champion after beating Jannik Sinner in the US Open final.
Alcaraz sent a message to Sinner after beating him, 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4, to win his second major title in 2025.
The Spaniard appears to be a very popular champion, with Alcaraz being congratulated by Rafael Nadal and many others across the tennis world and beyond.
Alcaraz has returned to world number one after winning the US Open, and his reaction was noteworthy for Jon Wertheim.
Jon Wertheim reveals that Carlos Alcaraz wanted to speak about his Wimbledon loss
Alcaraz took part in many interviews after winning the US Open final against Sinner, including with American sports journalist Wertheim.
When reflecting on the men’s singles final on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Wertheim discussed his interview with Alcaraz and claimed that he appeared happier than any other of his previous Grand Slam victories.
Wertheim also noted that Alcaraz was keen to mention his Wimbledon final defeat to Sinner, and how he was able to bounce back from it.
“Yeah, not surprisingly he’s ecstatic and this is major number six, he’s made a habit of this, but I think we’ve spoken to him after major title wins before, Paris was a much different kind of match,” said Wertheim.
“He was thrilled, I think A by his level of play, but also he brought this up sort of unbidden. I just asked the general question, ‘When you look back what’s going to make this one special?’, and immediately he went back to the Wimbledon final, which I thought was really interesting.
“The way he turned this around, the way he played such a cleaner match, a more organised match and was just the flat-out better player today. You seldom see winners of majors looking gloomy, but this was a level of glow I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.”
Podcast host and former world number one Roddick then joined the conversation, and suggested that he thought Alcaraz had taken inspiration from Grigor Dimitrov’s tactic against Sinner at Wimbledon before he had to retire with a pectoral injury.
“Yeah, I’m there in person and he was unleashing on the ball,” said Roddick. “The short kind of [Roger] Federer-esque slice was a different play. You have to think he kind of watched that Dimitrov match or at least it made an impact where he was hitting that, mixing it up out of the zones.”
Carlos Alcaraz claims he was ‘brilliant’ against Jannik Sinner in the US Open final
It was not just former players and journalists who were big on Alcaraz’s performance, but also the man himself.
When speaking to former British number one Laura Robson for Sky Sports, Alcaraz claimed he was ‘brilliant’ against Sinner.
“I just maintained my best level since the first game until the last one,” said Alcaraz. “Tactically, I tried to be perfect.
“Matches against Jannik are all about being good tactically, and physically it’s really demanding as well. I think I have to be perfect against him.
“Today, I just was brilliant, to be honest. In the second set, a few mistakes, but in general, I just was brilliant. If I want to beat Jannik on the biggest stage, I have to be brilliant, which I’m really happy about.”
It will be at least a couple of weeks until the 22-year-old returns to the match court, as Alcaraz has already withdrawn from his next tournament.
This means that Alcaraz can enjoy his US Open victory and celebrate his return to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time since September 2023.
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