Shohei Ohtani had another Shohei Othaniesque year in 2025. He even added the pitching back in. Because he wasn't already an otherworldly talent. Ohtani was the NL MVP once again and once again named AP Male Athlete of the Year. So, it would be easy to just make him the 2025 Joe Brackets Male Athlete of the Year, as well, and call it a day, but he's far from the only candidate.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had an insane season. He led the NBA in scoring, then led the Thunder to their first championship in Oklahoma City and was named Finals MVP, becoming just the fourth player in history to win the scoring title, MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. Then he picked up right where he left off this season. So, Gilgeous-Alexander definitely belongs in the conversation.
Mondo Duplantis also picked up right where he left off. He's been taking the pole vault to new heights--literally--for years and he's still only 26! In 2025, he won another World Outdoor Championship, his third straight and his fifth consecutive global title in five years (2021-25). On his final attempt of the competition (which came about a half hour after everything else was done and all eyes were literally on him), he sailed over 6.30 meters. It was his fourth world record of the year and the 14th of his career. There will be more. (He has the top 14 marks all-time and 19 of the top 21. The non-Mondo all-time best mark is 6.16 meters.)
Another player who continued to dominate his sport was Scottie Scheffler. He won the PGA Championship by five strokes. He then added another Major at the Open Championship, shooting 17-under and winning by four strokes. Overall, Scheffler had six titles on the season, was the PGA Tour's money leader and was ranked No. 1 in the world. Plus, he had a memorable role in Happy Gilmore 2.
So, those are the finalists for the 2025 Joe Brackets Male Athlete of the Year. But none of them are the winner. That honor instead goes to the world No. 1 in a different sport who also won two Major titles in 2025. And he won them both against his biggest rival, one of which was in the match of the year. Those are just some of the reasons why the 2025 Joe Brackets Male Athlete of the Year is none other than Carlos Alcaraz.
When Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal retired, it left a void at the top of men's tennis. That void was quickly filled by Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who've combined to win the last eight Grand Slam titles. Alcaraz busted through the door at the 2022 US Open, winning the title and becoming No. 1 at 19. He then won Wimbledon in 2023 and two Grand Slams, as well as Olympic silver, in 2024. Then came 2025, which was the best year of his career.
After losing in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, Alcaraz entered the French Open as the defending champion. He met Sinner in the final, where the rivals played a 5 1/2-hour epic that will go down as one of the greatest championship matches in history. In any sport. Sinner won the first two sets before Alcaraz got a late break in the third and took the set, 6-4, to stay alive. In the fourth set, Sinner had three match points at 5-3, 0-40. Alcaraz saved them all, then won the set in a tiebreak. The fifth set also went to a tiebreak, where Alcaraz completed his first career comeback from two sets down to defend his title.
A month later, Alcaraz and Sinner met in the Wimbledon final. This time, Sinner came out on top, setting the stage for the rubber match in the US Open final. Not even Federer and Nadal met in three consecutive Grand Slam finals, let alone in the same year! Alcaraz capped a dominant run through New York with a four-set victory. The second set of the final was the only set he lost the entire tournament. With his second US Open title and sixth career Grand Slam triumph, Alcaraz regained the No. 1 ranking, and he finished as the year-end No. 1 for the first time in three years.
The two Grand Slam titles and three Grand Slam finals were just the tip of the iceberg for Alcaraz in 2025. His year actually didn't start great, either. He won an indoor hardcourt title for the first time, but that was surrounded by some early-round losses, including a loss in his first match at the Miami Masters. Then the clay court season started.
Alcaraz won the Monte Carlo Masters. He'd never previously won a match at the tournament. Then he made the final in Barcelona. That would be his last loss until Wimbledon. Alcaraz won his first Italian Open, snapping Sinner's 26-match winning streak in the process. Then he won the French Open. Then the grass-court Wimbledon tune-up at Queen's Club, his first time winning three straight titles. His winning streak reached 24 before Sinner beat him in the Wimbledon final.
That loss at Wimbledon was followed by wins at Cincinnati and the US Open. Alcaraz added a victory in Tokyo for his eighth tournament title of the year. He clinched the year-end No. 1 at the ATP Finals, where he went 3-0 in round robin play and won his semifinal before losing to Sinner in the final. Overall, Alcaraz went 71-9, won titles on all three surfaces, made the quarterfinals of all four Majors, and earned his 250th career win while getting back to No. 1 in the world.
It's more than just his numbers, though. Men's tennis was defined by the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic for the better part of 20 years. Those were big shoes to fill. Alcaraz and Sinner have filled them and then some. Their rivalry will define men's tennis for the next decade (at least). Djokovic is still around, but they've both surpassed him. Alcaraz was touted as the next big thing, and he's lived up to the hype. And, in 2025, he got back on top.
While an argument could really be made for either one, I went with Alcaraz over Sinner because he had the edge in their rivalry this year. They both won two Grand Slams, but Alcaraz was 2-1 against Sinner in Grand Slam finals. In that epic at the French Open, it was Alcaraz who came out on top. When we look back at men's tennis in 2025, it'll be Alcaraz's year that's remembered more than Sinner's. That's why Alcaraz gets the nod.
His 2025 doesn't just stand out among tennis players. It stands out above the rest. Any of the others would be fine choices, but their seasons don't compare to what Carlos Alcaraz did this year. And that's what makes him the 2025 recipient of the Joe Brackets Male Athlete of the Year award.
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