Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz in 2025: Full breakdown of their six finals

The rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz marked 2025 again, splitting the four Grand Slam titles for the second consecutive year. The Spaniard finished as the year-end world No. 1, while Sinner settled for second place, in a dispute that lasted until the final week of competition at the ATP Finals.

Although Sinner's three-month suspension at the start of the season ended up taking its toll on the rivalry, they faced each other in a total of 6 duels—all in finals—and Alcaraz achieved 4 wins against 2 for Sinner. The growing rivalry reaches 16 official matches (10-6 in favor of Alcaraz), but the Italian has managed to surprise his rival, especially in the final part of the year.

It was the reunion between the two best players in the world in the Rome final, following the Italian's three-month suspension due to the doping ban. The months out of competition gave Alcaraz the possibility to take the world No. 1 spot in case of good campaigns, but without much success in the Sunshine Double, taking the top of the ranking had to be postponed and Sinner arrived without competitive rhythm—but still as the reigning No. 1.

Sinner came from a great campaign, sweeping strong rivals like Cerundolo (7-6, 6-3), Casper Ruud (6-0, 6-1), and Tommy Paul (1-6, 6-0, 6-3). The Italian was not yet at his best level, but it was enough to far surpass the rest of the Tour players. The duel was marked by a total of 63 unforced errors between the two (31 for Sinner and 32 for Alcaraz), although the Spaniard was much superior regarding winners (18 against 7). In a first set without breaks, Alcaraz saved a couple of set points against him and managed to send everything to the tiebreak, while after taking the lead, he took over the match in the second set, making the difference in competitive rhythm noticeable, which ended up giving the triumph to Alcaraz in straight sets.

It was barely Sinner's second tournament after the suspension and if in Rome he had shown a high level, in Paris things would only go up. The win in the semifinals against Djokovic gave a confidence boost to the Italian, who challenged the defending champion Alcaraz, who came from taking advantage of Musetti's retirement in the semifinals (4-6, 7-6, 6-0, 2-0). Both arrived without having suffered too much on the way and Sinner surprised by getting ahead in the first two sets, even though favoritism was on the Spaniard's side.

After two hours and 15 minutes, the score indicated a clear advantage for Sinner at 6-4, 7-6(4), 1-0—after starting the third set with a break in his favor. It would be enough for him to maintain his service for the rest of the set, but Alcaraz showed an epic fighting spirit to get back in the match. He achieved consecutive breaks and took the third set, increasing uncertainty, while in the 4th set Sinner again started with an advantage. The Italian was 5-3, 40-0 and had triple match point with his service—but history is known, Alcaraz fought to get ahead and send everything to the 5th set after a tie-break.

It was over 4 hours and 20 minutes when the 5th set began and again Sinner went ahead with an opening break. However, Alcaraz did not give up, managed to recover and send everything to the tie-break, where he ended up keeping the crown in one of the most epic Grand Slam finals in memory, and after 5 hours and 29 minutes, he overcame his great rival for the second consecutive tournament.

There were already 5 consecutive wins for Alcaraz and the Wimbledon final was an ideal scenario for the Spaniard, the 2-time defending champion, and against a Sinner who had not finished convincing on grass courts in previous years, and who had a scare in the 4th round against Dimitrov (when he advanced after the retirement of the Bulgarian, who was two sets up in the score). Sinner managed to direct his level in the tournament, beating Shelton and Djokovic in straight sets and settled in his first final in SW19, while Alcaraz had revived after a first-round scare against Fognini (win in 5 sets), and overcame rivals like Rublev, Norrie, and Fritz in the semis.

The final began in the best way for Alcaraz, who took the first set, but Sinner would not let the match escape him on this occasion. The Italian showed a superlative level, almost without errors from the service and securing breaks in the important moments, to take the win in four sets after little more than 3 hours. Without the lights of the French Open final, the Italian showed that he could challenge Alcaraz on grass courts, was forceful from the service and return, and gave no chances of a comeback to his rival—with which Sinner guaranteed his third Grand Slam title.

A more anecdotal final that will only remain in the statistics as a brief encounter. It was barely 23 minutes of match play, in which Alcaraz won 72% of the points played, took two consecutive breaks and took the lead up to 5-0. The Italian retired due to sudden illness—likely viral—and not due to a specific injury during the match. Sinner chose to take precautions before the US Open and Cincinnati would conclude with a bitter final with only 5 games played.

It was the third major final of the year where the No. 1 and No. 2 faced each other, and Sinner arrived as the defending champion. Alcaraz arrived with the chance to return to the top of the ranking, in an almost perfect tournament in which he had not conceded sets on his way to the final, leaving the 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic eliminated in the semifinals without problems. Sinner, for his part, only conceded two sets on the way and needed the win to defend the top of the ranking.

Alcaraz took dominance easily taking the first set, while Sinner responded by taking the second set, in what was being a great presence from the service of both players. However, the Spaniard was the one who came with more momentum on this occasion, and the service was impeccable with 84% of points won on the first serve against 69% for Sinner. Alcaraz also achieved 41 winners against only 21 from Sinner, taking the next two sets without problems for the triumph after two hours and 44 minutes with his 6th Grand Slam title.

For the last duel of the season, Alcaraz had already secured the top of the ranking after advancing from the Round Robin undefeated, and only the trophy was at stake. Sinner was the defending champion and Alcaraz was in his first ATP Finals final. The indoor hardcourt conditions were favorable to the Italian, who stretched his winning streak indoors to 31 consecutive matches—including himself in the historic top-5.

In the first set, Alcaraz managed to keep up with his rival's pace, and had a set point when the score was 6-5 in his favor and Sinner was serving. It was the only break point in his favor and he ended up wasting it. The Italian took the first set in the tie-break and in the second set he had to recover from a break down to take the victory after little more than two hours.