The rivalry continues to heat up between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
In 2024, the youngsters left no doubt they are the world’s two best players by sharing the Grand Slams between them, and the trend has continued in 2025.
In their latest battle, Sinner defeated Alcaraz to become the Wimbledon champion for the first time.
With the tennis circuit now on the road to the US Open, Sinner, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows, will be under threat from Carlos Alcaraz not only for the title, but his world number one ranking.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesSteve Johnson thinks Carlos Alcaraz will end the year as the ATP world number one
Jannik Sinner has been at the summit of the ATP rankings since June 2024, when he overtook Novak Djokovic.
The Italian currently has a 3440-point lead over world number two Alcaraz, but the Spaniard currently leads the race to the ATP Finals in Turin.
Should Alcaraz win the US Open and Sinner lose early, the points deficit could swing in his favour and with three months of the season remaining, the 22-year-old has every chance of reaching the top of the ATP rankings by the end of the year.
Furthermore, Steve Johnson of the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast thinks Alcaraz will usurp Sinner at the top of the rankings by the end of the year.
“I think Carlos ends the year as number one and he also had a three month head start,” Johnson said. “Sinner was out for four Masters series, so I just think he gets him. But it entirely depends on the big events. You win the Open and it’s 2000 points.
“One of these guys loses kind of early. You lose in the quarters and somebody wins it and they are going to get a 1500 point head start just from that event.
“But I think Carlos gets him at the end of the year. I think after his loss at Wimbledon, I think that was a kick in the pants for him to be like I need to be better.”
Photo by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty ImagesSteve Johnson thinks Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will play at least two more finals this year
Alcaraz and Sinner’s rivalry went up a level this season, as each of their three matches in 2025 have taken place in the final.
Two of these matches occurred in the finals of Grand Slams. Alcaraz won a classic match at the French Open, while Sinner won their Wimbledon encounter in four sets.
There is every chance the pair could square off in the US Open final in September, but while that remains to be seen, Johnson thinks there will be at least two more Sinner and Alcaraz matches in 2025.
“These guys are pushing each other. They see what they are doing, it’s the same with Roger, Rafa and Novak. They push each other to get better,” Johnson said.
“So he sees how good Jannik is playing on hard courts. He is going to solely work on how to beat Jannik, because he feels like he can beat everybody else on Tour.
“This is going to be a great rivalry and I think we are going to see them in a couple more finals throughout the year. I would love to see them in the US Open final, that would be electric, but we are a long way from that.”