Jannik Sinner final press conference: Everything Italian said after US Open loss, from addressing match delay & empty seats to revealing 'main goal'

Jannik Sinner was dealt heartbreak at the 2025 US Open as he failed to defend his title in front of an in-form Carlos Alcaraz. After his defeat, the Italian spoke to media at length, discussing the match delay and empty seats at the event, while addressing his ‘main goal’ for the near future and praising Alcaraz for his game.

Sinner and Alcaraz were originally scheduled to battle each other at 2:00 PM ET for the US Open trophy. However, the duo's match was delayed by half an hour due to additional security measures that were reportedly put in place for US President Donald Trump’s arrival. After the match, Sinner confirmed that the delay didn't hamper the players’ warmup routine, saying,

“It was fine. They told us in a huge amount before that it might start at 2:30. So we were not warming up twice, you know, so it was all fine.”

The additional security measures put in place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium also resulted in empty seats during the first set of the men's singles finals as audience members were delayed in getting to their seats. Reflecting on the empty stadium, Jannik Sinner reiterated that it hadn't been a problem, explaining,

“You know what? I wasn't actually realizing it that much. I felt like it was still very loud. I saw some empty seats, but I had no doubts that they're going to be full and packed, but it's not a thing where I was worried, you know, that no people will come. So, no, it was an amazing atmosphere.”

For Jannik Sinner, 2025 has undoubtedly been an incredible year. The World No.1 made it to the finals of all four Grand Slams, emerging victorious at the Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships. However, after his US Open loss, the 23-year-old is keen to make changes to his game. Speaking about his ‘main goal’ for the near future, Sinner admitted he's looking to add more variety and unpredictability to his arsenal.

“I didn't make one certain volley, I didn't use a lot of drop shots (today). And then you arrive to a point where you play against Carlos, where you have to go out of the comfort zone. So I'm gonna aim to, you know, maybe even losing some matches from now on, but trying to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player and because I think that's what I have to do, trying to become a better tennis player. At the end of the day, that's my main goal.”

Carlos Alcaraz has been hailed by many as the slightly better player than Sinner in terms of his unpredictability and shot-making, and it remains to be seen if the Italian's new approach can help him catch up to his Spanish rival in this aspect.

Jannik Sinner opens up about the improvements in Carlos Alcaraz's game

Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz at Wimbledon 2025 (Image Source: Getty)

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have faced each other in three back-to-back Grand Slam finals in 2025. In June earlier this year, the duo competed in the French Open finals, where Alcaraz won their gruelling five-hour battle. However, Sinner had his revenge at the Wimbledon Championships.

Reflecting on Alcaraz's performance during their US Open battle, the World No.1 praised his opponent and highlighted the improvements he has made in his game since their face off in England, saying,

“He has improved. I felt like he was a bit cleaner today. The things that I did well in London, he did better today and that's the result. So, I felt like he was doing everything slightly better today, especially serving both sides, both swings, very clean and yeah, I think that it. I'll give lots of credit to him because he handled the situation better than I did and he raised his level when he had to. I'm still proud of myself about the season I'm playing and making, but, yeah, he played better than me today.”

Over the course of their careers so far, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have faced each other a total of 15 times. After their most recent encounter, the head-to-head record between the two reads 10-5 in favour of the Spaniard.