Photo credit: Mustafa Yalcin-Anadolu-Getty
Rivals Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner rocked Roland Garros in a match for the ages.
In the end, Alcaraz made a rousing and historic stand to defend his crown.
Ripping the red clay with fearless drives, Alcaraz fought off three championship points, battled back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his life and out-dueled world No. 1 Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) to successfully defend his Roland Garros title in a dazzling and epic final.
The longest French Open final in history was a five hour, 29-minute thrill ride that will go down as one of the greatest Grand Slam battles the Open Era has produced.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe fierce final popped with dizzying flashes of shotmaking, massive momentum shifts and saw both champions serve for the title.
The top-seeded Sinner served for the championship at 5-4 in the fourth set.
The second-seeded Alcaraz served for it at 5-4 in the fifth set only to see his red-haired rival break back.
In the end, a dynamic Alcaraz elevated next-level tennis to stratospheric heights in the fifth-set tiebreaker.
The second-seeded Alcaraz ripped a running forehand strike down the line to end it—an hour and 45 minutes after saving championship points—then crashed to the clay in elation, capping the greatest comeback in Roland Garros final history.
t is Alcaraz’s his fifth Grand Slam championship—he’s now 5-0 in major finals—while Sinner suffered his first major final loss in a match he could have won falling to 3-1 in Slam finals.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz is the third-youngest man to hold five major titles behind only legendary Bjorn Borg and his doubles partner the retired king of clay Rafael Nadal.
Afterward, Alcaraz attributed this remarkable Roland Garros rally to a two-word mantra: Don’t Quit.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened: he had 5-3 in the fourth [set] love-40 I didn’t think about anything,” Alcaraz told TNT’s John McEnroe afterward. “I just [played] point after point putting my heart into it and giving my all energy into it.
“I tried not to give up we were in the final of the Grand Slam. It wasn’t the time to give up. I just tried to fight until the last point. I knew the 5-4 wasn’t easy—it’s even tougher when you have three match points and you couldn’t make it.
“ I just tried to put my heart into it and just go point after point. I hope the people enjoy it as well it was a great match to enjoy.”
It was a clash of the artist vs. annihilator and for two two-and-a-half sets, Sinner pierced the clay with punishing strikes putting himself one point away from his maiden Roland Garros crown—and third consecutive major title.
A defiant Alcaraz dug in and unleashed the greatest comeback in Roland Garros men’s final history.
The 21-year-old Spaniard is the first man in history to save three championship points in a Roland Garros final and win. Alcaraz is the first man to save championship points and take the title since Gaston Gaudio saved two championship points edging compatriot Guillermo Coria in an all-Argentinean 2004 final with trophy presented by Argentinean legend Guillermo Vilas.
A gutted Sinner showed pure class in the aftermath of a heart-wrencing loss that left his mom on the verge of tears at time because the tension was so intense.
“Tough to say now of course I’m happy to deliver this kind of level, happy but obviously this one hurts,” Sinner said. “It’s tough to talk right now, but I’m happy how we are trying to improve every day and put myself in these kind of positions. It was a high level match for sure, but the final result hurts.”