Alcaraz Beats Sinner in US Open Final; Is Men’s Tennis in a Two-Player Era?

• Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner in the U.S. Open final on Sunday to win his sixth Grand Slam.
• Alcaraz and Sinner have won two Grand Slams each in 2025, and have met in each of the last three finals.
• There’s a strong possibility that we’re in a two-player era in men’s tennis unless someone steps up to challenge Alcaraz and Sinner.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz won the U.S. Open final on Sunday, beating Italy’s Jannik Sinner in four sets. It was the third straight Grand Slam final in which these two have met, and they have split the four Grand Slams in 2025.

Is there a chance that Alcaraz and Sinner will sweep the Grand Slams in 2026 and beyond?

Alcaraz and Sinner Have Won the Last Eight Grand Slam Titles

Alcaraz beat Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in Flushing Meadows to win his sixth Grand Slam title. The win put the Spanish star back at the top of the ATP rankings. But Alcaraz and Sinner have now combined to win the last eight Grand Slams.

Sinner won the 2024 Australian Open and U.S. Open, while Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon. However, the two didn’t meet any of the finals. In 2025, Sinner took the Australian Open again, as well as Wimbledon. Alcaraz repeated at Roland Garros, and stopped a Sinner repeat at Flushing Meadows. The two have met in the last three finals, including Sunday’s U.S. Open final.

It seems like we’re in the era of Alcaraz and Sinner, and even the great Novak Djokovic alluded to this after losing to Alcaraz in the U.S. Open semifinals. He said:

“I’m happy with my level of tennis, but it’s just the physicality of it. I’m going to do my very best to get my body in shape to sustain that level and that rhythm for as many hours as it’s needed, but it wasn’t enough today. That’s something I, unfortunately at this point in time in my career, can’t control. I can do only as much as I can do. It will be very difficult for me in the future to overcome the hurdle of Sinner, Alcaraz, in best-of-five at the Grand Slams. I think I have a better chance in best-of-three, but best-of-five, it’s tough.”

Djokovic can beat everyone else in the world, but it seems like he just can’t get over the hump of Alcaraz and Sinner.

Who Can Step Up to Challenge the Big Two?

Tennis betting sites have Sinner and Alcaraz favored at all four Grand Slams next year, and by a wide margin. The two are co-favorites to win the French Open, while Sinner is favored at the Australian and U.S. Opens, and Alcaraz is a slight favorite at Wimbledon.

Who are the best bets to challenge the top two players in the world? Djokovic, of course, will be in the mix, but he’ll be 39 next May. Alcaraz will be 23 next May, and Sinner just turned 24 in August. Alexander Zverev is third in the world rankings, but he has reached two finals in the last two years, and has crashed out in the first and third rounds at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, respectively.

You’d be hard-pressed to go down the rankings and find someone that can consistently play with Alcaraz and Sinner. Feliz Auger-Aliassime had a terrific U.S. Open, but he needs to be more consistent. Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz might be able to sneak out a win, or Jack Draper. But a lot would have to go right for all of these players.

If you can get odds on Alcaraz and Sinner against the field at the Grand Slams next season, I would seriously consider them. After the Big Three era of Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, we might be down to the Big Two of Alcaraz and Sinner for the next couple years.