US Open final: How many sets Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner need to win today?

Carlos Alcaraz faces Jannik Sinner in the US Open men’s final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, battling in a best-of-five for the championship crown.

Carlos Alcaraz took on Jannik Sinner at the US Open's men's final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Sunday. The duo will have to play out a best of five sets and a player will have to win three sets to be crowned champion.

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, and Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, rally during the men's singles final of the U.S. Open.(AP)

World No. 1 Jannik Sinner started the game slowly, losing the first set 6-2 thanks to a slew of unforced errors. But he came back in the second set, winning it 6-3, followed by a 6-3 loss in the third set. It means Sinner has to win the fourth and the fifth set to win the Championship, while Alcaraz needs just one more to add to his lead.

US Open Final Rules Explained

At the US Open, each set is won by reaching six games with at least a two-game margin, though tiebreaks are used at 6–6 in most cases. Since 2022, all four Grand Slams — Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open — use a standardized 10-point final set tiebreak at 6–6 in the deciding set

Alcaraz, who started the match as the World No. 2, will replace Sinner at the top of the ATP rankings if he emerges winner of the US Open. It will be a major follow-up on the Spaniard's win at Wimbledon against the same opponent. He now looks to defend the title, as Sinner looks to add a grand slam to his crowns - a trophy that has been missing from the Italian's cabinet despite coming too close, too many times this year.

When Sinner Abandoned Alcaraz Game Due To Injury

Prior to their final match at the US Open on Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner met at the Cincinnati Masters in August. However, that match ended with Sinner leaving after around 20 minutes as he was recovering from an illness. In the post-match presser, the Italian revealed that he was suffering from an illness since day before the match.

"I'm super, super sorry to disappoint you," Sinner told the crowd. "Yesterday I didn't feel great. I thought that I would improve during the night, but it came up worse," sinner had said.

“I tried to come out, tried to make it at least a small match, but I couldn’t handle more, so I’m very sorry.”