Jannik Sinner explains why he is willing to lose matches in order to beat Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner’s remarkable winning run in hard-court grand slam matches is over. The Italian had claimed victory in 27 consecutive matches across the Australian and US Opens before Carlos Alcaraz dethroned him in a crushing win at Flushing Meadows.

Alcaraz, who claimed the US Open title with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 win, explained how defeat to Sinner in the Wimbledon final had triggered a reshaping of his training regime and a performance of fiery serves and excellent stroke play ensured he came out on top.

It was the Spaniard’s sixth win in seven meetings against Sinner - the aforementioned Wimbledon defeat being the exception - and the Italian admitted he ‘couldn’t do more’ to stop Alcaraz in New York.

Sinner then revealed that he needs to improve his overall game and even risk losing matches in order to develop an effective plan to handle his closest rival.

“You were better than me,” Sinner told Alcaraz during his on court interview following his defeat at the US Open. “I tried my best. I couldn’t do more.”

He added: “Well, I was very predictable on court. He did many things, he changed up the game. That's also his style of how he plays. Now it's going to be on me if I want to make changes or not, you know?

“We are going to work on that. I'm going to aim to, maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that's what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player.”

Sinner had held the World No. 1 ranking since June 2024, holding the position for 65 consecutive weeks including three months when he was sidelined for serving a doping ban.

Yet victory at the US Open means Alcaraz returns to the top spot for the first time since September 2023 and is now the man to chase in the rankings.

Sinner revealed that he is looking forward to the challenge of chasing Alcaraz down.

He said: “I'm going to change a couple of things on the serve, just small things, but you know, they can make big differences. Then we see how it goes. I'm looking forward to play again these matches.

“Something new is now I'm not No. 1 anymore, so you know, it also changes a little bit that you chase. It's different. Then we see.”