Carlos Alcaraz was able to implement his game plan to perfection against Jannik Sinner in the US Open final.
Alcaraz separated himself from Sinner in the US Open final, as he returned to the top of the ATP rankings for the first time since September 2023.
There has been a big reaction to this victory, including Rafael Nadal sending a message to Alcaraz after his sixth major title win.
As Alcaraz’s celebrations with his team continue, former world number one Andy Roddick has now revealed what he told him before the final even began.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesWhat Carlos Alcaraz told Andy Roddick about his serve before the US Open final
Alcaraz only dropped one set en route to winning the US Open title, and was only broken three times throughout the entire tournament.
Fewest Times Broken En Route to Major Title
1997 Wimbledon Pete Sampras 2
1994 Wimbledon Pete Sampras 3
2017 Wimbledon Roger Federer 4
2013 US Open Rafael Nadal 4
2006 Wimbledon Roger Federer 4
ADD ALCARAZ to the list – 3!
— Rob Koenig (@RobKoenigTennis) September 7, 2025
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When discussing the final on his ‘Served with Andy Roddick’ podcast, Roddick asked Jon Wertheim if he thought this was Alcaraz’s best tournament ever.
They both appeared to agree that it was, with Roddick particularly highlighting the serve that he actually spoke to Alcaraz about before the match.
Roddick: Is this Carlos’ best tournament ever?…I mean he lost one set and got broken like three times.
Wertheim responded, “Yeah and that wasn’t until the final and then he quickly reset and won the next set 6-1. If there are more levels to this, that’s scary. Sometimes, if there’s any critique on Carlos it’s that sometimes he plays for the fantastic when the routine would be just as good a shot. I got to say this was not…I mean there was some pyrotechnics and there were some great shots.
“There was that one rally, actually Sinner won it, when Sinner hit that volley with the side spin and Carlos tracked it down. I mean there were the highlight reel points, but I thought this was really extraordinary match generalship. I mean it looked like a completely different player from the Wimbledon final. If there are more levels, I mean holy hell good for us as observers, but that’s really scary for the rest of the field.”
Roddick then gave his own verdict, “He was just cheating points left and right by bleeding him, that recognition of when was otherworldly, because you don’t have any time to make that decision. Like that’s something you almost have to decide before you do it, and he starts recognising that and doing a charge when it wasn’t even an approach shot, you know, many times.
“The serve is so, like if you did a side-by-side of serve…I actually talked to him about it this morning in the locker room and he mentioned it and he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s something that we’ve been working on’. It used to go straight up and down, so he had to kind of shove it one way. He didn’t get a lot of turn on the wide one, he’s rounded out the bottom and he’s like, ‘It’s so much better, right?’. I’m like, ‘Well yeah, like it’s so much better’.
“Like it’s insane and then he goes and puts on that serving display that we saw tonight, I mean it was just dominant start to finish…To me this is start to finish the most dominant Slam I’ve seen him play, which is loony tunes, crazy and scary all at the same time.”
Carlos Alcaraz’s serving statistics in the US Open final vs Wimbledon final
Alcaraz actually lost in the Wimbledon final to Sinner, but he has already made notable big improvements in his serve in less than two months since then.
This is evident in the statistics from the two finals, with Alcaraz improving his serve in all but one statistic from the Wimbledon final.
This is particularly highlighted by the zero double faults in the US Open final, showcasing how reliable Alcaraz’s serve has become.
Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final vs SinnerAlcaraz in the US Open final vs SinnerAces1510Double Faults70First Serve %53%61%First Serve Win %75%84%Second Serve Win %51%57%Games Broken41
This could be a scary proposition for the rest of the ATP Tour, with Alcaraz now back as world number one.
Alcaraz has withdrawn from his next tournament, but is scheduled to return to the matchcourt soon.