Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have turned into the final bosses of men’s tennis. For the second consecutive year, the duo swept the four Grand Slams, each taking two apiece.
They’ve faced off in five tournament finals since May, including two ATP 1000 events and three consecutive Grand Slams. It’s the first time in history that two men have battled in three straight Grand Slam finals in the same calendar year.
The duo still has several opportunities this year to square off and cement their rivalry while also climbing up tennis’s all-time career earnings list. Following the US Open, Alcaraz stayed at sixth ($53.5 million), closing his gap to fifth-place Alexander Zverev ($54.7 million) to a little over a million dollars. Jannik Sinner moved up to seventh ($48.8 million).
Two ATP 1000 events remain: the Shanghai Masters in three weeks and the Paris Masters at the end of October. Sinner won the event in China last year, though neither has won the event in France. Both tournaments have a grand prize worth north of $1 million.
There is also the ATP Finals in November in Turin, Italy. The event, which includes only the top eight players, normally has the largest potential grand prize in tennis, though this year’s prize pool has yet to be revealed. Sinner won $4.9 million last year, the largest payout in a single ATP event until it was eclipsed by the $5 million Alcaraz won at the US Open on Sunday.
However, the ATP Final pays out players differently from most tennis tournaments, as the champion’s final sum will depend on their overall performance through the tournament. The tournament includes a group stage where a player could drop a match and still finish as the champion.
With millions of dollars still up for grabs, Alcaraz, 22, has a strong chance to pass Zverev and enter the top five. Sinner, 24, could also theoretically pass Alcaraz and reach the top five with a repeat victory in the ATP Final, but he’d likely need the Spaniard to withdraw from most of the remaining tournaments.
However, the young duo still has a long way to go before catching all-time earnings leader Novak Djokovic, who eclipsed $190 million after making the US Open semifinals. The 38-year-old also moved up to world No. 4 by making the final four, which included a win over former world No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals.
There are several other non-ATP tennis tournaments in the calendar that come with prize money, but are not considered in the official ATP earnings count. That includes the Laver Cup in two weeks, though Sinner is not scheduled to compete. Alcaraz is on Team Europe.
The Davis Cup, won by Sinner and Italy last year, is in November.
