ATP Journey
Alcaraz leads the US Open SF Djokovic
The Spanish haven’t given up a set in New York
September 5, 2025
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Carlos Alcaraz is chasing his sixth major title, second in the U.S. Open.
Sam Jacot
Carlos Alcaraz gave the opening ceremony to Novak Djokovic in the highly anticipated clash of multinational companies in the semifinals of the U.S. Open on Friday afternoon.
Alcaraz aims to avenge Djokovic at the Australian Open this season and last year’s Paris Olympics and start a brilliant start for the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the couple’s 9th-level Lexus ATP Head2head conference. In the first set of 48 minutes, the depth and aggressiveness of the second seed allowed Djokovic to defeat Djokovic to find a bigger game to win the opener 6-4.
Alcaraz is chasing his sixth Grand Slam title and second U.S. Open title, and he won in New York in 2022. He currently has 11 straight wins in the eighth-place ATP Masters 1,000 title in Cincinnati. If he continues to lift the trophy, Alcaraz will surpass Jannik Sinner to regain world No. 1 in the PIF ATP rankings for the first time in two years. If Sina loses to Felix Auger-Aliassime late Friday, or no one goes to the finals, he will also return to the top spot.
According to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, Alcaraz has 59 wins and 6 titles in 2025, with his career best than 65 wins and 6 trophys in 2023. Espanyol has reached the final in the last seven games and has won Nitto’s votes in Nitto and has won Nitto’s votes from 9-16.
Djokovic beat Taylor Fritz to join Sinner, the second man to reach the semifinals in only all four majors this year. The Serbian chased his first Grand Slam final of the season, trying to win the record 25th major and breaking the recent dominance of Sinner and Alcaraz, who won seven majors in the past. Djokovic’s last major championship was on the grass in Flushing in 2023, when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The 38-year-old bid to become the second-largest major finalist in the Open era after Ken Rosewall, with a record of 37-15 in the main semifinals and a four-time U.S. Open champion.
In front of a crowd in New York, Alcaraz flew out of the block and broke Djokovic’s serve in the opening game. Despite several agile backhand titles from Djokovic, Alkaraz is still in most of the games in the first set. He sometimes forced the Serbs out of balance with the weight of his shooting, often hitting his forehand at speeds of more than 80 mph. Djokovic also fought for his first serve, winning only 65% (13/20) points in his first delivery.
did you know?
Alcaraz aims to be the fifth person in the open era, joining an elite group before the age of 23, including Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander and Jim Courier.
