Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, aka Sincaraz, rule men's tennis as the 2025 US Open arrives

NEW YORK (AP) — OK, sure, maybe it wouldn't be rational to say there's no point in actually holding the full U.S. Open and instead just fast-forwarding to the inevitable matchup for the men's championship between Jannik Sinner — assuming he's healthy — and Carlos Alcaraz on Sept. 7.

Seems reasonable, though.

“We know,” Novak Djokovic acknowledged, “they’re the dominant force right now.”

When singles action begins Sunday at Flushing Meadows, a change from the usual Monday start, there are cases to be made for various players to make their way to the women's final. The top three in the rankings — No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 3 Coco Gauff — have won the past three U.S. Open titles, for example. Other past major champions such as Naomi Osaka or Elena Rybakina have performed well lately; maybe a new face will emerge.

When it comes to the men, there really is just one name that matters in this post-Big Three era, and that name is “Sincaraz,” the silly, made-up, “Fedal”-style mashup of the guys who are ranked No. 1 (Sinner) and No. 2 (Alcaraz) and have claimed seven Grand Slam trophies in a row and nine of the last 12.

Djokovic took the other three in that span.

There is nothing quite like it in the women’s game at the moment. The past five Slams were won by five players: Swiatek (Wimbledon in July), Gauff (French Open in June), Madison Keys (Australian Open in January), Sabalenka (last year’s U.S. Open) and Barbora Krejcikova (last year’s Wimbledon).

“Sinner and Alcaraz,” said Marcos Giron, an American who has been ranked 37th and faced both, "are bringing a ridiculous level, week in and week out."

Look at the ATP rankings, which either could lead after the U.S. Open. Look at the titles. Look at the past two Grand Slam finals, with Alcaraz erasing a two-set deficit and saving three championship points to win the French Open in June, before Sinner won in four sets at Wimbledon in July. Look at the most recent Masters 1000 tournament, the Cincinnati Open, where Sinner didn't drop a set en route to Monday's final but quit because he was feeling ill, ceding the trophy to Alcaraz.

That ended Sinner's 26-match winning streak on hard courts; Alcaraz was responsible for the previous defeat, too. Alcaraz collected his tour-leading sixth trophy this season and has won 39 of his most recent 41 contests.

Since Sinner returned in May from a three-month doping ban, Cincinnati was the fourth event both entered — and they met to decide the title in all four.

They hit the ball as hard as anyone. Sinner's returns rival Djokovic's for best in the game. Alcaraz's drop shots are unrivaled. The athleticism displayed by both is remarkable. Alcaraz might be the fastest guy around. Sinner's long limbs reach everything.

What sets them apart from others?

“Their confidence. Their ball-striking. Their movement is basically perfect,” said Sam Querrey, a former player who made it to Wimbledon's semifinals and the U.S. Open's quarterfinals. “It seems like they hit the ball with just a little extra force when they need to.”

It leaves other elite players such as Ben Shelton, the 22-year-old American who is ranked No. 6, so-close-yet-so-far at majors.

Shelton's 2025 Grand Slam resume includes losses to Sinner at the Australian Open, to Alcaraz at the French Open and to Sinner at Wimbledon.

“Frustrating,” Shelton said. “Two very different players and challenges.”

The sample size is, admittedly, small, but these two are producing the sort of riveting points and thrill-a-minute matches that Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal, or Nadal vs. Djokovic, used to.

“The rivalry is real. It’s there,” said Darren Cahill, one of Sinner’s two coaches. “And hopefully it’s going to be there and real for the next 10 or 12 years.”

Not sure? Head to YouTube and check out Alcaraz vs. Sinner, whether at Roland-Garros this year or at the U.S. Open in 2022 or pretty much any of their 14 showdowns ( Alcaraz leads 9-5 ).

“You have to earn every point, every game. He makes you suffer (from) the first point of the match until the last ball,” said Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain. “It's really tough to find holes in his game.”

Sinner's take?

“We try,” the 24-year-old from Italy said of their matchups, “to push ourselves to the limits."

FILE - Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Italy's Jannik Sinner at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

FILE - Jannik Sinner, of Italy, holds up the championship trophy after defeating Taylor Fritz, of the United States, in the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sept. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Italy's Jannik Sinner, right, greets Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, at the net after beating him to win the men's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Italy's Jannik Sinner, left, celebrates with the trophy after beating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, right, to win the men's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, July 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Winner Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, right, and Italy's Jannik Sinner hug after the final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots star wide receiver Stefon Diggs is facing strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with a dispute with his former private chef, police said.

News of the charges emerged after a court hearing Tuesday in Dedham, Massachusetts. Diggs is charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery.

Diggs’ lawyer, David Meier, said in an emailed statement that Diggs “categorically denies these allegations.”

Meier said the allegations never occurred, describing them as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated.

“The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear: they are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction,” Meier wrote.

In a statement, the Patriots said they were also standing by Diggs: “We support Stefon,” the team said.

A police narrative in a court filing about the case said a woman came to the Dedham Police Department on Dec. 16 to say that two weeks earlier, while working as a private chef for Diggs, he came into her bedroom and became angry during a discussion about money. The woman told police Diggs “smacked her across the face,” she tried to push him away and then he “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck.”

“She said that he was behind her with his arm wrapped around her,” wrote Officer Kenneth J. Ellis. “She said that she did feel like she had trouble breathing and that she felt like she could have blacked out.” Diggs threw her on a bed and said “lies” when she told him she had not been paid, Ellis wrote.

The chef sought payment for a week in November when Diggs was having houseguests and she had to go home, Ellis wrote. The woman “left her position” and the home in Dedham but returned on Dec. 9 to retrieve her property. At that point, she told police, Diggs referred her to his assistant, who told the woman she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before she would be paid. She did not sign it, police said.

The woman was reluctant to file charges until last week, Ellis wrote, when “she let me know that she had changed her mind from a few days ago” and wanted criminal charges.

Diggs, 32, established himself as one of the NFL’s best wide receivers during a run with Minnesota and Buffalo from 2018 to 2023, when he had six consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl four times.

After a lackluster stint in Houston last year, Diggs ended up in New England, signing a three-year, $69 million deal in free agency that guaranteed him $26 million.

Diggs has proven a reliable target for second-year quarterback Drake Maye and is a big reason why the team has once again clinched the AFC East title as the team heads toward the playoffs.

Off the field, though, his tenure with the Patriots got off to a rocky start when a video surfaced on social media in May showing Diggs passing what appeared to be a bag of pink crystals to women on a boat.

It wasn’t clear what the substance was, and an NFL spokesperson said the league would not comment. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said the team would handle that matter internally.

FILE - New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) leaves the field following an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Nov 23, 2025, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit, File)

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) runs against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)