Jannik Sinner just won Wimbledon, and he looked terrific, but Carlos Alcaraz was injured, and he still is. The question is when he will returns, maybe close at the US Open.

The Italian has been much better over the past three years, improving his at the net, bending down, returning when he is sitting way back, and then pounding his forehand and backhand. He has won five Grand Slams, and he can get another five majors to hit 10. But the Spaniard has won seven Slams, Can Alcarez end up with 12? 15? Hard to say.

The hardcourts are coming, in July, August and September. Alexander Zverev reached the final against Sinner in Wimbledon, and he looked very good in the two sets. But in the last two sets, he began to make some mediocre errors and he lost. As Zverev said, Sinner is better, and he is very close, but not good enough. He has become more aggressive, hitting more forced shots. Years ago, Zverev reached the final at the 2020 US Open, but wilted in the end and fell to Dominic Thiem 7-6 in the fifth. Brutal. However, now he has found new energy and determination.  

The American men have not won a Slam since since 2003, when Andy Roddick won the US Open. That is now a long time ago, but maybe someone can go damn deep in Flushing Meadows.

In the top 32, there are six Americans: Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Brandon Nakashima. At Wimbledon, the Americans had 15 players to the singles draw, and there were opinions about who would rise and go extremely deep and into the quarters.

Fritz, who lost Sinner in the 2024 US Open final, needs to get back to that level. At least the San Diegoan reached in the quarters at the 2025 US Open when he lost to Novak Djokovic. While Djokovic is always dangerous, it was time for Fritz to start beating the best at the majors.

The lefty Shelton has passion. He brings a huge serve, but he can over hit and miss the corners. The No. 5 reached the semis at the 2023 US Open. The good thing is that he is young, so he will grow. 

Tien is also super young, and he hustles, and he can slap the ball. However, he is another one who need improvement. The No. 17 has had a fine year. But, at the US Open, he has played four times, and he has not won, a match period. Time to step it up.

Jannik Sinner is on fire, again, winning everything in Miami. In the final, he has to play versus Jiri Lehecka  , who is growing, all the time.

However, Sinner is very fast, and his forehand and his backhand can crush it, and throw it very deep. His first serve is gigantic, and even at the net, he can bend down and touch it, another winner.

Yet the Czech Jiri Lehecka  easily beat Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-2 in the semis. The 24-year-old Czech is a high-grade up, each day, nailing his forehand and his backhand. He returns are also pretty attractive, and he is swiftly.  However, this year, he has lost early, until now.

“When it’s going well, it’s easy. But what I’m very happy about, even this week, there were some moments when I wasn’t feeling great,” he said, who won. “[But] my start to this year wasn’t very good. In Australia, I wasn’t playing good tennis. I was coming back from an injury that happened to me in the first match of this year. But I was practicing a lot, spending a lot of hours on the court and also in the gym. So I knew that a few matches will not go your way, but the work is there. The work will not be  disappeared.”

Yet Sinner was so steady in the semis when he beat Alexander Zverev 

  6-3, 7-6(4) . It was 4-4, and Zverev saw Sinner throw it up in the air, but he missed it, in the net.  He missed another, and then Sinner bullied it. The man is so intense, with his serve, hit forehand and his backhand. 

He is 3-0 versus Lehecka , and he has not  lost a set, pretty each, crushing him 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 on Roland Garros. But now, he is playing much elite.

“When playing tennis you are alone, you have to try to find a solution by yourself,” Sinner said.

Carlos Alcaraz lost to Daniil Medvedev in the semis at Indian Wells, in the second set, 6-3, 7-6 (3). This year, he hadn’t lost a match, but the Russian went so high, and he knocked him off. It happens,

Each year, the best players play well somedays and then cannot play well, or mediocre.

Alcaraz is very intense, and he mixes it up a lot, side to side. Yet the Spaniard was tired, and it was super hot, on the court, and he struggled at the end. In a sense, week after week, he can play awesome, but he also can win, when he can be more patient.

The same thing goes Medvedev, who can clap his huge forehand and his backhand, and he can rally. His serve is solid, or very good, but he is mediocre at the net. But he is enhancing, finally.

“I just have to give credit to Daniil. I think he just played an amazing match. He was playing unreal,” Alcaraz . “I have never seen, to be honest, playing Daniil like this. He was going to play aggressive, but how, the way he did it, surprised me a lot, because he didn’t miss any or he didn’t miss as much as I expected.  So it was tricky.”

Alcaraz said that he was a little bit unfulfilled, but he was to learn in the practices. He also said that against him, they will have to beat him to stun him. That is the No. 1.

“I have been playing great tennis. I just show the players and show the people that if they want to beat me, they have to play at his best level one hour and a half, two hours in every match.”

Medvedev was thrilled going into the final, and he was darn close but Jannik Sinner climbed up, down 0-4 in the second set, and he jumped up as fast as he could, and he beat Medvedev  7-6 (6) 7-6 (4).  Sinner never backed off. His first serve, his massive forehand and his backhand, and he striked. 

“He’s a very unique style of playing. Seeing him back at this level, it’s great,” Sinner said. “He’s improving a lot. Very aggressive player at the end. He has two different game styles when he serves and when he returns. You have to face that. It’s great for the sport having him again playing this level.”

Sinner did say about going to Miami, this week, a ATP and WTA 1000, and to win it, again. Not many people have done that but  Aryna Sabalenka, who just won IW, and he took it in Florida in 2025. 

That was an incredible match, when Sabalenka edged Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3 7-6 (5) in the final in California. Rybakina had a match point, but at the net, right there, and she hit it long. Sabalenka can be disgruntled, but she thinks about, and change it. The No. 1 is so darn, good.

“I learned to be mentally strong no matter what. And even though I lost so many big ones and so many painful ones, I’m still able to go out there, and even when things are not going well, I’m able to stay focused and I’m able to just to fight for it,” Sabalenka said.

NOTES
Rybakina  has played very well, but she can miss of few. In Miami, she reached the final in 2023 and 2024, and she lost, looking good, but then she missed a lot.

But not Serena Williams, who won it eight times. Wow…

How about Iga Swiatek, who won it 2022? She is a terrific player, and she won six Grand Slam,s but is she more thoughtful.

If you cannot play fantastic, at the various tournaments, then you will have to understand to change it up. Some of them, men and women, can ignore it, and if you do that, you will not go further. 

However, all of them have made an effort,. That is why you are in the ATP Tour and the WTA. They practice all the time, but when you are playing in a match, they could panic. 

Right now, in Indian Wells, some of the players won some terrific matches. One of them, Learner Tien, who lives in San Diego, was down two breaks in the third set, but he came back, beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4). The lefty can really spin it with his forehand, backhand and first serve. He came back, strong. Believe it or not, he is now being coached by Michael Chang, who won a Grand Slam at Roland Garros a long time ago. However, Chang is very patient, and thoughtful. Tien is doing the same thing.

 “I think it’s a big part of my game. If I had to define it, I would say it’s a lot of problem-solving, a lot of adjusting, which is, both of those things are huge parts of tennis,” Tien said. “I think it’s really good for me, because I get to play through these matches where I could be down, could be losing, and I’m not playing phenomenal, but just problem-solving and trying to find a way through these matches. It just builds my confidence that I can make it through these matches, when I’m not feeling my best. I think, in general, it just gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”

How about the No. 2 

Jannik Sinner edged Joao Fonseca, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in the night session. It was a very tough match, but he came through, over  the young Brazilian, Joao Fonseca, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) . Over the past three years, Sinner became much more control, hitting some tremendous shots, and also, he now mixes it up, a lot.

It was highly close, but Sinner swung it, and he nailed his forehand and his backhand.  

“You have always to improve in a way, because everyone is changing small details, so you also have to be quite present in every practice session. But I like the way we’re approaching the practice sessions and matches. Is something what I always look up to, so there are still certain areas where I need to improve, where I need to feel like more confident in a way, but in the other way, I’m very happy to compete, and that’s the most important,” Sinner said.

Aryna Sabalenka is winning all the time, beating the other No. 1,  Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4. Her forehand and her backhand is mammoth, and years ago, her serves was mediocre. But now, she can do almost all of it, except at the net. Plus, often, she can block the crowds.

“Sometimes they can be really annoying, and I can hear them. But I can really recognize well if it’s my opponent or if it was from the crowd.

Never happen to me, actually,” Sabalenka said. “I feel like in this case they should have just replayed the point because it was, the player got distracted by someone.  That’s tricky.

If it’s like you’re about to make your shot and someone yelled super loud something, then yeah, you can get distracted, just like shocked by the noise, and then of course you can miss your shot.” 

The last one was the Canadian, Victoria Mboko, who won it. She is going up towards the top. But as she said, all of them, the younger players, to win a Slam, someday.

“Everyone wants to, of course, beat you. They want to play well against you. I feel like anything can happen. It’s not like I expect to win every single tournament every single week, and that’s almost quite impossible. I just take it week by week. If it’s not my week, then you just move on. You just try to find the positives in it.

In 2025, both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner made it into the final, at the Grand Slams, including the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. Both of them are pretty young, and they can smash the ball, with their tremendous forehands and hard backhands, very flat, and spin, too. 

They matched up in three Slams last year, where the Italian won the ‘25 Australian Open, and Wimbledon, while the Spaniard grabbed Roland Garros (a real classic 7-6 in the fifth) and the US Open. Even in 2024, they played each other three other at the Grand Slams in the final. They are dominating.

Are they even? Maybe, or maybe not, as Alcaraz has won 10 matches versus Sinner and he lost six contests. Without a doubt, they will go on for years, playing each other, especially when they are healthy. 

It does look like they might, but Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played each other 60 times, the most ever, winning the Slams, 24 for the Serbian versus 22 Slams for the Spaniard. It will stay there actively for a long time. Alcaraz won six Grand Slams, and Sinner was won four. At the 2025 US Open, in the final, he moved all around the box, changing it a plot. 

They can resume their rivalry at the ’26 Australian Open. Some other people will start in Brisbane in a couple days, which can be very hot, under the sun, yet it can be a blast, if you are playing great. But not Alcaraz and Sinner, waiting to jump it in Melbourne. They are waiting for each other.

As Alcaraz said, “My style it’s about the variety that I have in a match. I feel I can do everything on court, to be honest: slices, drop shots, topspin, flat. I just trust really much in my physical conditions. I feel like I can reach every ball, which gives me confidence and the security of making good points and being able to play with variety. Since when I was really, really young, I just got that feeling of doing everything. Just come to the net, playing from the baseline, drop shot, come to the net, slices. I had to work on that just not to make too many mistakes on the matches, so I just been working on that.”

Sinner has evolved a lot over the past three years. He is much more fit, and better at running, serving and net play.

“I know him. So it’s been so many matches against him,” the Spaniard said. “He watch a lot of my matches just to study my game. I do the same. First of all, because I love watching him play. I think it is unbelievable what he’s doing. Secondly, it’s because I love to study him, how he plays, how he feel on the tournaments just to if I played him in that tournament, just to have feedback how he’s been playing in the tournaments.”

At the end at the 2025 ATP Finals in Italy indoors, Sinner beat Alcaraz, 7-6, 7-5. Pretty close, yet Sinner punched it into the corners.

Will anyone else go seriously deep into the final at the 2026 Aussie Open?   Perhaps. 

Who else will have a shot in Melbourne? 

One of these: Alexander Zverev,  Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz, Alex De Minaur, Ben Shelton, Matteo Berrettini and Daniil Medvedev. Even though he is aging, Djokovic has won 10 titles and is always a factor. The Russian Medvedev won a Slam at the ‘21 US Open, but after that, no one took it, except Alcaraz and Sinner.

Going into the final at Wimbledon, it looked like Carlos Alcaraz would win it again for a third straight.

But he could not beat Jannik Sinner, as the Italian played amazing, smashing his forehand, his backhand and serving, too. Yes, the Spaniard had beaten him five matches in a row, including at Roland Garros twice. Yet this time, Sinner changed it a little bit when he played more patiently. Anytime he had a chance to sprint, he decided he could touch the lines. He beat Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and was totally composed.

“It’s mostly emotional, because I had a very tough loss in Paris,” Sinner said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or how you lose at important tournaments, you just have to understand what you did wrong and try to work on that, and that’s exactly what we did.

“We tried to accept the loss and just kept working. This is for sure one of the reasons I am holding this trophy here. I am just so grateful that I am healthy and have great people around me, and holding this trophy means a lot.”

Now the “new” rivalry is really there, at the Grand Slams and other tournaments. Still, Alcaraz beat Sinner eight times and Sinner has four wins. 

Over the past three years, the two players became much better with their serves, their returns and at the net. They can be patient in the backcourts and also hit it very deep with spin, hard drives or soft drop shots.  

Alcaraz certainly had a chance to go into the fabulous fifth, but he finally grew frustrated in the fourth set, when he went for his shots too early.

 “I think a lot of credit needs to go to his coach Darren Cahill. That dude can coach,” said John  Isner , the former top 10 player. “He admitted that something that they did work on a lot was going forward, coming in to the net more and trying to finish points at the net when they first started working. Two or three years ago when they first started doing it he didn’t look as comfortable. But he looked pretty comfortable [here]. Maybe it’s not the favorite part of his game but he looks pretty comfortable going forward. We also talked about how good he is from the back of the court, especially in that match against Ben [Shelton], when they essentially got into a baseline game and neutral ball rallies, Ben didn’t really have any chance. Ben is playing great from the baseline and Carlos even said during the match he was saying, ‘he is much better than me on the baseline, he is playing much better than me’. Sinner right now from the back of the court, you have to say, there is nobody better in the world. That is the reason why he is No. 1 in the world. It’s him, Novak [Djokovic] and Carlos, the three best players from the back of the court, but I think Sinner might be separating himself a little bit.”

Oh, really? Alcaraz will go to practice even more, to improve and volley, too. Just like all the great players, month after month, they will think about it a lot. 

Coming up in Canada, Cincinnati, and the US Open, the No. 1 and No. 2 will go deep. We could see them meet in a third straight Slam final.

Coco Gauff just won Roland Garros, and before that, Madison Keys snared it at the Australian Open. Both of them have reached into the semis on the grass, but they can make the transition to new surfaces. 

The other veteran, Jessica Pegula, who reached the final at the 2024 US Open. However, she will really try to nail the ball, early. Right now she must be considered a favorite as she just won at Bad Homburg, beating Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5. As she said, “It was a special week.”

But they are not the only ones. All of them are in the top 32 include Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova, Sofia Kenin, Ashlyn Krueger and McCartney Kessler. That is a lot of possibilities. 

Navarro went to Virginia to the college thing and she came into the WTA to play, and now she is ranked in the top 10. She has improved a lot, but she does have more work to do on her power game. However, at the US Open, she reached the semis until she lost again.

Anisimova left the WTA after her father’s death, as she didn’t like to play at the events, but eventually, she missed it. On the court, she thought about it, and she recommitted. Now she is looking much better in the rallies. As Anisimova said, “I think it’s super important. I feel like the crowd has really enjoyed watching us women play out there.”

Sofia Kenin is another player who won the 2020 Australian Open, and she made it to the final at Roland Garros. But she began to collapse, and she was upset on the court and off.  Part of it was she was injured a lot. Now she is a veteran at 26 years old, so at Wimbledon, she should shift it up.

Since 1999, the American women went super deep and won it at Wimbledon, such as Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams. The last time that she won it by Serena, in 2016, but after that, each year, they did go into the second week, or even the final, but they couldn’t do it from 2017 to 2024. 

Next week, someone will rise up. Maybe the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who won it at Wimbledon with a lot of variety. But she was hurt for five months and she couldn’t play, yet the veteran can attack when she wants to. 

Outside of the Americans, there are a bunch of people who can go deep, such as the No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, Mirra Andreeva and others.  

Who would have known that the American Amanda Anisimova finally won a big title, winning a  WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open. She crushed the ball in the final, beating the veteran Jelena Ostapenko, 6-4, 6-3. That was huge, as over the past few years, she looked terrific, and then, she started to hit some wild errors. But she turned it on last week, hitting it deep and with more variety. She also beat Paula Badosa and Ekaterina Alexandrova, among others.

 “It’s been such an incredible week here. I think every match has been very tough,” Anisimova said. “I’m just super happy with my performances and my level here, and to be able to get my first 1000 title is really special to me. It was actually quite stressful, especially with the rain, at 3-3. I was trying to stay focused. There’s not much that either of us could do with the conditions. But I think that game was super important, and I’m happy that it went my way because, as you said, it was a very challenging moment in the match.”

Yes, she was, as last year, in the first seven months, she was out of it, mentally. She was frustrated and ticked off, too. But she decided to be more intelligent and patient. She is a gigantic hitter, but now she is more brilliant, on the court and off.   Now she is ranked No. 18 and ready to go. Whether she can reach in the top 10 is still up and the air, but currently she is super confident.  Both her forehand and her backhand are strong, and her return is aggressive.

Believe it or not, 12 months ago, she was ranked No. 213, and she was very low, but she kept trying , and in the summer at Toronto, she reached the final. She lost against Jessica Pegula, but she looked pretty darn good.

Really though, last year, the 23-year-old lost a number of matches, like at Wimbledon, when she couldn’t reach the first round at the qualifying.  In 2023, in May, she stopped, and she didn’t play on the court when she was ready to try it again in 2024 January. It took her a long time to revive, but she is right there now.

“I think that I’ve been able to really execute well from my backhand side,” Anisimova said. “But also I’ve been working a lot on my forehand, which I think that I’ve also had a lot of winners on. I think I’m really trying to develop my game as a whole, try to come into the net more, and use my serve to my advantage. I think my whole game is actually coming together.”

It has been going on for year in Delray Beach Open in Florida during February, but this time, the American men couldn’t win it again, and this time, the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic won it, beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 . That was so close, but he stood tall.

“It feels unbelievable to win after losing two finals before and then down 5-2, match points. It was an amazing feeling and I’m so proud of myself,” said Kecmanovic.

“It’s an unbelievable week. I’ve worked so hard, I’ve done everything I could right. It didn’t happen for a long time, but I kept believing and I’m so happy to finally win another title.”