Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner became the first pair in Open Era history to reach three successive Grand Slam finals in a calendar year. (AP)
The Jannik Sinner-Carlos Alcaraz era of men’s tennis has officially taken full flight after the superstar duo’s sensational Grand Slam season in the 2025 calendar year. The World No.1 and 2 booked their third successive Grand Slam final meeting of the year at the US Open, erasing the trail of the Big 3 on the calendar after 22 years.
For the first time since 2003, a calendar year has passed without Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal reaching a Grand Slam final. The 24-time champion Djokovic was wiped out with clinical precision by Alcaraz, who stormed into the final without dropping a set at Flushing Meadows. Meanwhile, a slightly wavering Sinner booked his fifth consecutive Slam final in a four-setter, pipping Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second semi-final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night. Bracing up for a third successive Slam final this year, Alcaraz and Sinner thereby broke a plethora of records.
An exhale from Jannik!
He’s in the men’s singles final 😤 pic.twitter.com/BxqZsBsfIP
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2025
Jannik Sinner – 24y 19d – 2025
Roger Federer – 25y 19d – 2006
Roger Federer – 26y 18d – 2007
Roger Federer – 28y 23d – 2009
Novak Djokovic – 28y 101d -2015
Final act bound 🎬
For the first time since 2022, Carlos Alcaraz is in the US Open title match! pic.twitter.com/K8D0R0lPmh
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025
Staggeringly, either Alcaraz or Sinner have been part of all eight Grand Slams in the last two calendar years since 2024.
1 – Sinner and Alcaraz became the first men’s pair in Open Era history to reach at least three Grand Slam finals in a calendar year.
3* – Sinner and Alcaraz are also the first pair since Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to feature in three successive Grand Slam finals, starting with the Australian Open earlier this year. Nadal and Djokovic clashed in four successive Slam finals between Wimbledon 2011 and the French Open in 2012.