Carlos Alcaraz shows true colours with cheeky message immediately after winning US Open

Carlos Alcaraz stormed past Jannik Sinner to lift his sixth Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows, and then got a smile out of his disappointed rival. Sinner was looking to become the first man to defend his US Open crown since Roger Federer in 2008.

But the No.1 seed came up short in Sunday's final as Alcaraz capped off a dazzling fortnight with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 6-4 victory. They had already made history coming into the championship match, becoming the first male pair to meet in three Major finals in a single season - and Alcaraz had a cheeky message for the runner-up.

"I want to start with Jannik. It's unbelievable what you are doing during the whole season. Great level during every tournament you are playing. I see you more than my family!" the newly-crowned champion smiled.

"It's great to share the court, to share the locker rooms, to share everything with you. Watching you improve every day, working really hard with your team, really great people around. So just congratulations for everything you are doing and great performance for the whole week."

It's been a statement fortnight for Alcaraz, who didn't drop a set on his way to the final and ended the tournament having only been broken three times. And he credited his team and family for helping him become a better player and a better man.

The Spanish superstar continued: "My team, my family, I'm lucky. I'm really lucky to have you guys, to be honest. The hard work you are making just to make me even better, not only in the professional part but in the personal part as well, I am just really proud about the people I have around.

"Thank you very much, every achievement that I am having is because of you, is thanks to you, so this one is also yours. I just wanted to say thank you to my team.

"I am really lucky to have part of my family here as well, my brother, my uncle, my father, I love you. My mum, my little brothers who are watching at home, I love you as well. It's great support I'm receiving from you, so thank you so much."

Both Alcaraz and Sinner also thanked the fans and the tournament staff, and gave special shoutouts to tournament director Stacey Allaster, who is stepping down from her role at the end of this year's tournament.

"I don't want to leave without saying anything to Stacey. You made everything easy for us since the first time that I came here," Alcaraz added. "From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you and see you soon."

Sinner also started his speech with a message to Alcaraz and his team. "You are doing amazing, congrats. I know it's a lot of hard work behind this performance today. You were better than me. Congrats, enjoy it, it's a great moment," he said.

"Then of course, my team, thank you for supporting me, for understanding me, for working hard.

"We all know how much dedication we put in to be here on this stage and it has been an incredible season, a lot of big stages and matches we played throughout the season and I'm super, super happy to share this occasion with you. I tried my best today, I couldn't do more. So thank you for the support."

Turning to address Allaster, he added: "I know this is your last year, so it has been an incredible run, you always try to do your best for us and we are all very sad that you won't be here next year."

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