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Jannik Sinner secured his place in the U.S. Open final for the second consecutive year on Friday night, overcoming Felix Auger-Aliassime with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. The Italian had a brief scare in the middle of the match, taking a medical timeout for a bothersome abdominal muscle before regaining control of the match.

Sinner, the No. 1 seed and defending champion, is aiming to become the first man to repeat as a U.S. Open champion since Roger Federer, who won five consecutive titles from 2004-2008.

The 24-year-old Italian will face No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, in the final on Sunday. According to the ATP, this will be the first time in tennis history that the same two men have met in three consecutive Grand Slam finals within a single season. The winner will also claim the top spot in the world rankings. The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd is expected to include President Donald Trump.

"It's a very special day," Sinner said about the upcoming matchup. "It's a very amazing final again."

 

 

Earlier on Friday, Alcaraz earned his spot in the final by defeating 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic with a score of 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Sinner has now advanced to his fifth consecutive title match at a Grand Slam. He won the U.S. Open last year, the Australian Open in January, lost to Alcaraz at the French Open in June, and then defeated Alcaraz at Wimbledon in July.

"Amazing season," Sinner said.

Against Auger-Aliassime, Sinner's performance was outstanding in the first set, but his level of play dropped in the second. According to his coach, Simone Vagnozzi, this was due to the abdominal issue, which impacted his serve. "Sometimes you're tired and you can't let your opponent see that. At a certain point in the second set, his level went down. And naturally, if your opponent sees that, he can take energy from that," Vagnozzi said. "So you have to be good at masking your emotions and masking the physical issues Jannik had today."

 

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Sinner's streak of 38 consecutive service holds, which dated back to the third round, came to an end when Auger-Aliassime broke his serve to go up 5-3 in the second set with a 99 mph inside-out forehand winner. Auger-Aliassime, the 25th seed from Canada, was attempting to reach his first major final after already eliminating No. 3 Alexander Zverev, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, and No. 15 Andrey Rublev. He went on to win the set 6-3, closing it with a 117 mph ace and evening the match.

"I was going toe-to-toe, at times," Auger-Aliassime said.

After the second set, Sinner left the court for a medical timeout. His coach confirmed that the treatment made a significant difference. Upon his return, Sinner's play looked to be back on track. He later said the issue was "nothing too bad" and "nothing serious," without giving more details.

 

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Sinner, who had only managed three winners and six unforced errors in the second set, was back to his usual form in the third, recording 11 winners to just four unforced errors. He broke Auger-Aliassime's serve after an awkward return of a 124 mph serve that somehow landed in, drawing a netted response from his opponent.

The momentum continued for Sinner in the fourth set. After saving five break points early on—he saved nine of ten throughout the match—he broke to take a 3-2 lead. The match concluded just 25 minutes later, giving Sinner his 33rd win in his last 34 Grand Slam matches and extending his unbeaten run on hard courts to 27.

 

"He's been dominating on hard courts," Auger-Aliassime said, "but, I mean, kind of everywhere."

 

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