NEW YORK (AP) — Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have played so often, and with so much at stake lately, that they both know the other's game so well.
So is the No. 1-seeded Sinner, a 24-year-old from Italy, happy to be facing No. 2 Alcaraz, a 22-year-old from Spain, on Sunday at the U.S. Open for the championship, the first time in tennis history the same two men will meet in three consecutive Grand Slam finals within one season?
Well, yes and no.
“We are aware of maybe more things, because him or me, we try to prepare the match tactically and in different ways,” said Sinner, who dismissed any concern about an abdominal muscle issue that arose in his semifinal win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. “But sometimes, it’s also nice to not play against him.”
President Donald Trump planned to attend the final; no White House occupant has been at Flushing Meadows since Bill Clinton in 2000.
This hard-court showdown — with the winner also taking the top ranking — follows Alcaraz's victory over Sinner erasing a trio of match points on the French Open's red clay in June for his fifth Grand Slam title and Sinner's victory over Alcaraz on Wimbledon's grass in July for his fourth.
“It's great for the sport having rivalries,” said Sinner, trying to become the first man to repeat as the champ in New York since 2008, when Roger Federer won his fifth U.S. Open in a row. “I’m someone who loves these challenges, and I love to put myself in these positions."
Sinner has been close to unbeatable the last two seasons — except against Alcaraz, who leads their head-to-head series 9-5.
Sinner is into a fifth straight Slam final, dating to his title at the U.S. Open a year ago, and he's 33-1 at majors in that span, the lone blemish against Alcaraz in Paris.
Since the start of 2024, at all events, Sinner is 1-6 against Alcaraz and 109-4 against all other opponents.
Since the start of this May, Alcaraz is 36-1, with the loss coming against Sinner at the All England Club — also Alcaraz's first defeat in a Slam final. Alcaraz leads the tour in wins (60) and titles (six) in 2025 and has reached the finals at his past eight tournaments.
“It’s something that I’m working on, just the consistency on the matches, on the tournaments, on the year, in general. Just not having up-and-downs in the match. Just the level that I start the match, just wanted to keep that level really high during the whole match,” Alcaraz said Friday after beating Novak Djokovic.
“So I’m thinking I’m doing that in this tournament, which I’m really proud about,” added Alcaraz, who hasn't dropped a set over these two weeks, thanks in part to an ever-improving serve. “Probably, I’m just getting mature.”
Knowing each other so well means that Alcaraz and Sinner figure they will make — and see — some tweaks in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where they first faced off in the 2022 quarterfinals, a victory for Alcaraz in a match that ended at 2:50 a.m. on his way to his first Grand Slam title. (Of note: Federer and Rafael Nadal never met once at the U.S. Open.)
“Surely, Carlos will try to do something different than he did in the Wimbledon final. And we need to prepare for that. … We’ll have to come up with some small tactical changes, too,” said Simone Vagnozzi, one of Sinner's two coaches. “There are always adjustments. And there will be some during this match, so we always have to be ready. Carlos, we know, can vary things a lot and try different tactics.”
There is plenty of history to study.
“I will see what I did wrong, what I did great, in the (past) matches,” Alcaraz said, “just to approach the final in a good way.”
They are far and away the best men’s tennis has to offer, no matter the surface.
Whoever wins Sunday, it will be the eighth straight major that ends with Sinner or Alcaraz receiving the trophy.
“We are players who are pretty complete, I’d say," Sinner said. “We can change the way we play. He, I think, he does it better in his way. I make my adjustments in my way.”
Carlos Alcaraz, of Spain, celebrates after defeating Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Jannik Sinner, of Italy, reacts after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, during the men's singles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.
Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of the Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The shoes of Cuban soldiers clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those slain so people could pay their respects.
Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.
Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.
The official announcer indicated that they were “combatants” who had been “wounded” in Venezuela. They were greeted by the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez, and the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera.
Those injured and the bodies of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and U.S., with President Donald Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.
Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those slain looking on nearby.
Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”
“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”
Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”
“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.
Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.
“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.
When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, "It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.
Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.
Meanwhile, a demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.
“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.
In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders living in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes returning to their island.
In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the remains of more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.
A day before the remains of those slain arrived in Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced $3 million in relief aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, which struck in late October.
The first flight took off from Florida on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.
“We have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was working with Cuba's Catholic Church.
The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”
Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
