‘Carlos, I’m so sorry!’: Sabalenka’s hilarious gaffe, calls Carlos Alcaraz ‘Jannik’ live on TV

The US Open men's singles winner, Alcaraz, saw the funny side of the situation and took things lightly. "It's 9am in the morning, don't worry, OK," said Alcaraz.

L-R: US Open women's and men's singles champion Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz. (X)

In a hilarious gaffe during live television, World No. 1 women’s tennis player and US Open women’s singles winner Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus mistakenly referred to the new World No. 1 men’s singles player, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, by his arch-rival’s name, Jannik Sinner. This left everyone present in stitches as Sabalenka called Alcaraz “Jannik”.

The incident occurred on NBC’s Today in America, where she was showing off her US Open trophy alongside men’s champion Alcaraz. During an interview celebrating their respective triumphs, Sabalenka was explaining a video trend on the social media app TikTok when she had the slip-up.

“I have a TikTok to do with Jannik… Ah, Jannik,” she said, before realising her harmless mistake. Embarrassed by her words, Sabalenka quickly covered her mouth before reaching for Alcaraz.

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“Carlos. Carlos, I’m so sorry. OK, never mind, no TikTok is coming,” she said before bursting out in laughter.

The US Open men’s singles winner, Alcaraz, saw the funny side of the situation and took things lightly. “It’s 9am in the morning, don’t worry, OK,” said Alcaraz.

“It’s all good,” he laughed it off.

Earlier on Sunday, Sinner’s two-year hard-court Grand Slam dominance came to an end in New York as his arch-nemesis, Alcaraz, amped up the heat to clinch his sixth Slam title, trouncing the defending champion while also reclaiming the World No. 1 ranking. Alcaraz, who holds a commanding head-to-head record over the 24-year-old Italian, was bracing up for their third Grand Slam final meeting of 2025, an Open Era record, on the back of a flawless run throughout the competition without dropping a set. Though Sinner managed to clinch the third set of the contest, Alcaraz remained the overwhelming favourite as he became the youngest man to win multiple Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka continued her dominance at Flushing Meadows, defending her women’s singles title against local favourite Amanda Anisimova.