Carlos Alcaraz defended his crown at Roland Garros after beating world number 1 Jannik Sinner in the longest French Open men’s singles final in history. Alcaraz, who was two sets down at the start, came back from behind to register an emphatic 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 win over Sinner and claimed back-to-back titles at the French Open.
Resilient Comeback by Carlos Alcaraz Shakes Sinner
The Spaniard demonstrated incredible determination and grit after losing the opening two sets 4-6, 6-7 and then going on to take three successive sets to outclass Sinner in a moment classic. Sinner relaxed his grip marginally in the third and fourth sets, but he gave it his all in the last one to take it deep. Ultimately, Alcaraz was able to edge past him in the tie-breaker. The all-time record match lasted 5 hours and 29 minutes which is the longest final in French Open history. It had no problem beating the 1982 Paris final where Mats Wilander beat Guillermo Vilas in four sets in 4hr 42min. It was Sinner’s first loss in a Grand Slam final.
Unrelenting pressure from the backhand enabled Sinner to take an early break up in the second set and the top seed started to tighten the screw on Alcaraz, who was reeling back 1-4 on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier.
Tiebreak Drama and Fightback of Carlos Alcaraz
A ferocious Alcaraz started the fight and received deafening roars when he levelled at 10 games and then took a tiebreak but Sinner pipped him ahead with a scorching forehand winner and doubled his advantage after two hours had passed.
Alcaraz, never having returned from two sets down previously, fought well hoping to escape his maiden loss in a final of a major and retrieved a set before fighting gallantly to save three match points at 3-5 adrift in the fourth set, subsequently regaining equilibrium through the tiebreak.
Fifth Slam Seals Legacy
The 22-year-old Spanish player took his impeccable record in Grand Slam finals to 5-0, stopping Sinner’s 20-match major unbeaten run. With the dramatic win, Alcaraz became the third-youngest male player in history to have won five Grand Slam titles joining tennis greats Bjorn Borg and countryman Rafael Nadal while he is the vanguard for tennis’ new generation.
Sinner was agonisingly denied a third consecutive Grand Slam title following last year’s US Open victory and consecutive Australian Open titles. He lost his fifth consecutive match to Alcaraz in their first Grand Slam final meeting and their first major championship match between two players born in the 2000s.
Alcaraz leads 8-5 in total after defeating Sinner to win in Rome, where the Italian returned to the court after serving a three-month doping suspension.
