Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz reacts after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros against Italy’s Jannik Sinner in Paris (Image via AP /Christophe Ena)

They had showcased their class progressionally in the Round of 16, the quarters and the semi-finals. The match of extremely small, razor thin margins had Sinner win 193 of the 385 total points while Alcaraz, who won his fifth Grand Slam title, had one less. After two hours and 12 minutes, Sinner led the match by two sets and the points breakdown by nine (82-73). Sinner had never won a match that went past four hours (0-5). At the other end, Alcaraz had never won after losing the first two sets (0-8). He trailed Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Wimbledon final and Alexander Zverev here last year. At 22 years, 1 month and 3 days, Alcaraz has won his fifth Grand Slam title – the EXACT same age as Nadal when he achieved the same feat. There have been only 12 matches in this Alcaraz vs Sinner rivalry with the Spaniard leading by 8-4 having polished off the last five matches. Federer, who had a positive head-to-head record against much of the tour during his prime, only struggled to fend off Nadal with their rivalry finishing off at 24-16 in favour of the Spaniard. Since 2024, his win-loss record stands at 91-8. Remove Alcaraz out of that equation and it gets refreshed to 91-3. The last time the 23-year-old had a win over Alcaraz was back in September 2023.

“This was the most exciting match that I’ve played so far without a doubt,” said Alcaraz. “Real champions are made in those situations,” he added. Hopefully not the last time,” said Alcaraz. “Because I mean, as I said many times, every time that we face against each other, we raise our level to the top.”

New Delhi : Coming into the French Open final, the one question that had not been answered in the bubbling rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner was how would they hold up with a major title on the line. “I think the match had everything. As the match progressed, ticking past the four-hour mark, another powerful stat emerged. One of the two were primed to end that drought with blows from the back getting fiercer and touches at the net getting silkier. You could not put this past Alcaraz who has had bad starts in major finals before only to win the tournament anyway. His trophy count in Paris may only read two, dwarfed by Nadal’s superhuman tally, but the signs of a legend are there. The duel between them is eerily similar to that of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s historic tussles. Sinner can relate with that stat. And we’re here for it – and Carlos agrees. “This is the first match in a Grand Slam final.

“Today was all about believing in myself. Never doubted myself today and I tried to go for it,” he said. Even if the rivalry looks skewed on paper, on court, where it all matters, the margins, like on Sunday, is just a point.

On Sunday, they took that up multifold with a five-hour 29-minute classic that became the longest Roland Garros final in the Open Era. The Spaniard came from two sets down to win 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 to stage a comeback for the history books. In what transpired as the second-longest Grand Slam final since 1968, when the Open Era began, Alcaraz saved three championship points while serving at 3-5 (0-40) in the fourth set. In the decider, Alcaraz led 5-3, got broken, and needed a super tie-break to become only the third man this century – after Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal – to defend the French Open title. 6: Harish Thawani on cricket’s TV market and the watershed moments And that streak continued in Paris on Sunday as the 22-year-old banked on the crowd and his typical never-say-die attitude to reel off four straight games in the third set to relegate Sinner to his first set dropped in the tournament. Virat Kohli’s love for ‘dhaba’ food, priority for family & more | RCB bus driver shares stories Then, again, standing a point away from defeat, Alcaraz polished off five straight points to hold serve at 3-5 in the fourth set. In a match of unending twists, it was Sinner’s turn to add some drama to the mix with Alcaraz broken at 5-4 when serving for the title. 1 picked three games in a row to overturn a 3-5 deficit into a 6-5 lead. Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz (right) and second placed Jannik Sinner of Italy pose with trophies after the final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025 (Image via AP /Thibault Camus) In the 10-point tiebreak that followed, Alcaraz showed the three C’s that have been passed on from his grandfather – cabeza (head), corazon (heart) and cojones (balls). 1, with the level that he was playing. For his 14 titles here and a jaw-dropping 112-4 win-loss record.

In the end it was all heart,” he said on Eurosport. A running forehand down the line winner later, it was Alcaraz who kept his flawless record in major finals alive. He also became just the third man in the Open Era – after Gaston Gaudio and Novak Djokovic – to save a championship point enroute to a Grand Slam title. Bombay Sport Exchange Ep. He then broke Sinner’s serve with the Italian attempting to clinch his third straight major title. The crowd vehemently supported Alcaraz as he bagged the tiebreak in the fourth set and forced a decisive fifth set. The Spaniard’s racket, masquerading as a magic wand, started to produce astounding drop shots from deep with cross-court forehands landing in with plenty of zip and accuracy. The World No. He didn’t shy away from referring to all three in the aftermath. “To put it to words was just happened is really difficult honestly. Two sets down against the World No. I just put my heart into it and tried to keep it going. Never gave up. I was just fighting. Point after point. “I played with my grandfather’s three Cs. My grandfather is proud. After the match I played, I think I can say that (cojones),” he added. Two weeks ago, it was Nadal who was feted on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Alcaraz was one of the thousands in attendance then, beaming, all smiles as his idol was celebrated. In a full circle moment, a fortnight later it was another Spaniard who was celebrated and feted for a trophy run. It was Alcaraz who stood atop the podium with the Coupe des Mousquetaires in tow.