Only one man could walk away a champion when Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner squared off in the 2025 US Open final. Three weeks ago it was Alcaraz who claimed the New York crown, taking the world No. 1 ranking from his Italian rival in the process.
This week, the runaway leaders in the ATP rankings both lifted trophies in their first individual tournaments since the US Open.
Alcaraz, who also competed in the Laver Cup team event in September, won the Tokyo ATP 500 event in his tournament debut. Sinner was also an ATP 500 champion, winning Beijing for the second time.
For a moment, it looked like Alcaraz would not make it beyond the second round as he suffered a left ankle injury against Zizou Bergs. But after a lengthy pause and a visit from the trainer, he recovered to win that match and ultimately win the title with the loss of just a single set.
He fought back from a set down to beat Laver Cup teammate Casper Ruud in the semis before notching a 6-4, 6-4 final victory against Taylor Fritz on Tuesday—gaining revenge 10 days after the American beat him at Laver Cup in San Francisco.
“I enjoyed every single second, [apart from] the five minutes I was on the floor after I hurt my ankle,” Alcaraz joked of his time in Tokyo. “I’m really happy with the level that I played, with everything. Starting the week not good with the ankle, and the way that I came back from that, I’m just really happy about it.”
With eight titles, 10 finals and 67 wins so far this season, the world No. 1 is enjoying a career year at age 22. His previous trophy high was six in 2023, and he won five in 2022, including his first Grand Slam at the US Open.
"It's been my best season so far, without a doubt," Alcaraz said of his current campaign.
A ninth trophy will have to wait, however, as Alcaraz pulled out of this week's Rolex Shanghai Masters to fully recover from his ankle issue.
After his US Open final defeat, Sinner spoke of "chasing" Alcaraz for No. 1 and a desire to retool his game to beat the Spaniard, even if it means taking a few losses to other opponents along the way—the classic one step back, two steps forward approach.
The Italian did drop two sets in his Beijing title run, the middle frame against both Terence Atmane (second round) and Alex de Minaur (semifinals), but he dominated the third set in both matches and was never in serious danger of defeat. He capped his run with a 6-2, 6-2 final victory against American Learner Tien on Wednesday, his third title of the season and his first outside of the majors.
"We will try to improve and push for more and let's see what the rest of the season looks like, but I am very happy to share this [trophy] with all of you," Sinner said, addressing his team after winning Beijing for the second time in three years.
While Sinner trails Alcaraz by just 590 points in the 52-week ATP rankings, he is 2,590 points behind the Spaniard in the 2025 Race to Turin, leaving him with a lot of ground to make up in the chase for year-end No. 1. But with Alcaraz out of Shanghai, where 1,000 points are on offer for the champion, Sinner can close the gap for a final push.
Sinner is the defending champion in Shanghai and also won the ATP Finals last year on home soil in Turin, part of a career-best eight trophies on the 2024 season. He will hope to extend this year's battle for No. 1 to the season finale, where an undefeated champion can earn 1,500 points.
