Carlos Alcaraz Vs Jannik Sinner Rivalry: Italian Aims To Become Unpredictable After US Open Final Defeat

Jannik Sinner believes he must be “more unpredictable as a player” if he wants to challenge Carlos Alcaraz in the future.

The Italian lost to Alcaraz in four sets at the US Open final, seeing both players evenly split in this year’s four grand slam titles.

The last eight grand slams have now been shared between Sinner and Alcaraz, with the duo becoming just the second pair to share every major title in men's singles in successive years, after Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in 2006 and 2007.

Alcaraz now holds a 10-5 record in head-to-heads, with Sinner’s only win in the rivalry since 2023 coming at the Wimbledon final earlier this season.

Sinner was disappointed with his performance on Sunday and is willing to lose more matches in the short run to achieve his long-term goals.

“I was very predictable on court today,” said Sinner.

“He [Alcaraz] changed up his 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. We’re definitely going to work on that.

“I didn’t make one serve and volley. I didn’t use a lot of drop shots. Then you arrive at the point where you have to play Carlos, you have to go out of the comfort zone.

“I’m going to aim, maybe even lose some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes. To be a bit more unpredictable as a player.

“That’s what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day that’s my main goal.”