The US Open final was a lot more one-sided than Roland Garros, with Sinner being told his serve needs to be better<\/a> next time he plays Alcaraz<\/a>.<\/p>\n While there has been a lot of focus on Sinner\u2019s<\/a> serve, a Grand Slam champion has suggested a completely different area of his game was more of an issue.<\/p>\n Sinner has only lost five matches this year, but four of those defeats have come against Alcaraz, who has dethroned him as world number one<\/a> in the US Open final.<\/p>\n When reflecting on the men\u2019s singles final at the US Open this year, 1981 Roland Garros mixed doubles champion Jimmy Arias spoke on the Inside-In podcast about Sinner giving away free points on return.<\/p>\n Alcaraz\u2019s serve has been praised as a much improved shot<\/a>, but Arias did not believe the pace of it should have caused Sinner many more issues than other players.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you watch Sinner play matches against anyone but Alcaraz you watch it and go how can anyone beat him? He is [Novak] Djokovic with more power,\u201d said Arias. \u201cDjokovic is the greatest of all time as far as numbers go.<\/p>\n \u201cBut one thing that was weird for me in the finals was the whole tournament you could serve 125mph to Sinner and he would take that return and hit it hard and deep at your feet.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he was playing [Lorenzo] Musetti that was the case, he would hit a 125mph serve and then be on his back foot off of the return. You are supposed to be in control of a point or at least have some sort of an edge when you hit a decent serve in the corner at 125mph and against Sinner he was behind in most points right away.<\/p>\n \u201cAlcaraz wasn\u2019t serving that much bigger than 125mph. Yeah, he got a couple in the 130\u2019s but it wasn\u2019t consistent. Yet he was getting so many free points.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure why that was except perhaps Sinner was maybe feeling a little extra pressure against Alcaraz. He doesn\u2019t feel comfortable against Alcaraz, he does things against Sinner nobody else does. He mixes things up.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople feel the pace from Sinner and try to match it or go above it and red line their game and it doesn\u2019t work. If you hit hard against him it just comes back at you faster and deeper and you\u2019re in more trouble. \u201cHe will give him a spinner and a slice, and whack one 100mph and it seems to keep Sinner a bit off balance and unsure so he doesn\u2019t play nearly as well against Alcaraz as he seems to against everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n How did Jannik Sinner\u2019s return statistics vs Carlos Alcaraz compare to the rest of the US Open?<\/p>\n Arias\u2019 point about Sinner\u2019s return being significantly less effective against Alcaraz is supported by the statistics.<\/p>\n Sinner won just 18% of his points against the first serve of Alcaraz, compared to the combined 33% he won across his six other matches.<\/p>\n This continues into the second serve return, which Sinner actually won more points than he lost up to the final, but only won 43% against the second serve of Alcaraz.<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner\u2019s return at the US OpenVs Carlos AlcarazVs Everyone ElseFirst Return Points Win %10\/55 (18%)99\/302 (33%)Second Return Points Win %15\/35 (43%)141\/218 (65%)Break points converted %1\/1 (100%)35\/66 (53%)<\/p>\n While Sinner did have a 100% break point conversion rate against Alcaraz, he did only create one opportunity and therefore makes it look better than it perhaps could have been.<\/p>\n The Italian will now have a couple of weeks off before returning to action at the China Open<\/a>, where he is a former champion.<\/p>\n![\"Jannik](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2233653089-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by KENA BETANCUR\/AFP via Getty ImagesJimmy Arias claims Jannik Sinner\u2019s return was \u2018weird\u2019 against Carlos Alcaraz<\/p>\n
You have to lift the ball a bit and keep it out of his strike zone and I think Alcaraz does that and gives him so many different looks. <\/p>\n