It’s been another frantic and busy month on tour. We’ve witnessed the close of the grand slam season, a knock off Ryder Cup (in the month of the real thing). Alcaraz and Bublik have covered themselves in glory, whilst Musetti has done the opposite and we’re watching the golden age of Italian tennis keep rolling. Declan Tumblety wraps up all things tennis throughout the month of September.
The US open
This month opened with the closing of the US open, where Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner in 4 sets in the final to claim his 2nd US Open title and 2nd reign as the world’s top seed. It was the 3rd successive grand slam where the pair met in the final and it certainly won’t be the last for the ‘big 2’. Alcaraz’s win means no man has successfully defended the US open title since Roger Federer in 2008- where he won five in a row.
Another man who claimed the headlines in the 2nd week was Felix Auger-Aliassime. This was his first semi-final since the 2021 US Open, and it took Sinner to stop him. This semi-final run seen him climb to world #13 and gave him a real fighting chance of making the year-end finals in Turin.
For the 4th time this year, Novak Djokovic was defeated at the semi-final stage of a grand slam. Losing in straight sets to the eventual winner. It looks like, sadly, it could be over for him at the highest level with the Serb winning 0/10 sets in Grand Slam semi-finals this year.
On the Women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka managed to defend her 2024 title to make sure she didn’t go slam-less in 2025. She defeated Amanda Anisimova in the final, meaning the American, Anisimova, has now lost the last 2 major finals. Losing on home turf will never be fun, but maybe this one came with a lot less heartbreak than her double bagel loss at Wimbledon. The semi-finals saw a re-run of the previous year’s final. Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula, whilst Anisimova got her revenge for said double bagel defeat to Iga Swiatek on the way to defeating a resurgent Naomi Osaka in the final four.Â
The Laver Cup
Tennis’ answer to the Ryder cup took place in San Francisco this year. Team World shocked team Europe to take home the title. A lot of noise has been made around the validity of the tournament. No ranking points are up for grabs, so aside from prizemoney for multi-millionaire players, it’s largely just a 3-day exhibition tournament. Jannik Sinner and Francis Tiafoe didn’t even bother to enter either, opting for rest before the Asian leg of the tour. The tournament was sealed on day 3, with Taylor Fritz beating Zverev (again) to clinch it. Next year’s tournament returns to London so it’s one to look out for if anyone is wanting to watch live tennis, should you be unlucky in the Wimbledon ballot.
Jack Draper
Whilst he never played this month, the British #1 still made some headlines as he’s announced his season is over. He suffered yet another Wimbledon 2nd round exit in summer and didn’t play until the US Open, nursing an injury. He won his first round at Flushing Meadows but pulled out before the 2nd round. It’s a disappointing end to an otherwise positive season for Draper. He’s already dropped down to #7 in the rankings after the US open, but he’ll only slip down further with inactivity.Â
The Billie Jean King Cup
Italy defended the BJK Cup, whilst also holding the Davis Cup on the men’s side- so it truly is a golden generation for Italian tennis! As expected from an Italian women’s team, Jasmine Paolini was the star of the show as they beat the USA in the final.
WTA Korea
Iga Swiatek won the Korean Open this month too. According to Swiatek, winning in Seoul was always a sentimental goal of hers after her dad won a medal at the 1988 Olympics in the same city. She’s already clear in the #2 spot for the race and the rankings (having already qualified for Riyadh) but it’s 500 points nonetheless for the Wimbledon champ.
ATP Chengdu
Alejandro Tabilo (#72) stunned Lorenzo Musetti (#9) in the final of Chengdu. Before the tournament, Tabilo had only won 5 matches all season, but won 7 on the bounce (qualifiers included) to claim the title against the tournament’s top seed. This makes him the 2nd lowest ranked player to win an ATP event all season. For Musetti, this means he’s lost his last 5 finals, including last year’s Chengdu final.
ATP Hangzhou
Alexander Bublik won his 4th title of the season in Hangzhou, meaning he’s won the 2nd most titles of any player this season, behind Carlos Alcaraz on 8. This title also means he’s won a championship on every surface this season! Interestingly, this makes him the first man not named Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic to do so since in 2019. After the tournament, he climbs to a career high 16th ranking and puts him to 12th in the race for Turin. It’ll be an uphill battle if he does want to qualify, but it’s certainly not out of the picture.
ATP Tokyo
Carlos Alcaraz won his aforementioned 8th title of the year in Tokyo. The newly crowned world #1 defeated the tournament’s 2nd seed Taylor Fritz in the final. Alcaraz’s semi-final win over Casper Ruud would be his 66th of the season, a personal best for the Spaniard. Fritz’s run to the final will see him return to his career high ranking of #4, over taking Novak Djokovic. After winning in Tokyo, Alcaraz announced his withdrawal from the Shanghai masters, opting to skip the year’s penultimate masters 1000 tournament in favour of rest ahead of the season’s curtain call.
ATP Beijing
Jannik Sinner defeated Learner Tien in the final in Beijing to claim his 3rd title of the season and his 2nd Beijing win. Tien, however, may be the talk of the tournament, with the teenager advancing all the way to the final and reaching a career high ranking of 36. His wins against Musetti and Medvedev both came by way of retirement but, he can still take a lot of pride by reaching the final, and no shame in losing to Sinner. Tien also claimed an interesting record on the way by defeating Lorenzo Musetti. He now has the most wins against top 10 opposition this season, outside of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, boasting a 5-2 record against the world’s elite.
Lorenzo Musetti made the headlines again in China, but unfortunately not for reaching another final. The Italian was picked up on courtside hot mics making derogatory comments about the Chinese crowd and has since faced a lot of backlash, he’d since apologise for these comments but was booed off court following his loss in the next round.
Player of the month
It’s hard to look past Carlos Alcaraz this month, he’s won his 6th grand slam, against his rival no less, whilst also reclaiming the world #1 spot and then won a title against great opposition in Tokyo.
Mover of the month
At the end of August, Alejandro Tabilo was ranked #122, climbing 50 places to #72 after winning Chengdu, really showing how one tournament can change everything for the ‘tourists’. Tabilo has since dropped to #74, but he’ll hope to stay in the top 100 at least until the start of the Australian Open, aiming for automatic entry to the main draw.
