Alcaraz edges Sinner in EPIC to defend French Open title

PARIS: Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz staged a staggering recovery after being two sets down to beat World No. 1 Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) and win the French Open men's singles title in Paris on Sunday.

The World No. 2 Spaniard triumphed in one of the best Grand Slam finals in recent times, which lasted 5 hours and 29 minutes, to be the longest French Open final in Open Era bettering Mats Wilander's four-set triumph over Guillermo Vilas back in 1982, which lasted four hours and 42 minutes in length.

After losing the first two sets 4-6, 6-7 (4), the World No. 2 Spaniard staged a dramatic comeback, winning the third set 6-4 and the fourth 7-6 (3).

The decider too went into the tie-breaker, and Alcaraz showed his class with an array of dazzling shots, combining power with precision, and clinched the set 7-6 (2) to become only the third man to retain his Roland Garros title this century after Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.

The Spaniard has set a new record, winning all five Grand Slam finals he has featured in so far.

Earlier, the Italian threw away three championship points when he was up 5-3 and 40-0 up in the fourth set. Alcaraz grew in confidence and broke Sinner with a blistering forehand winner before holding his serve to make it 6-5, winning 13 of the last 14 points.  

The first four sets lasted over four hours.

Sinner won the first set 6-4 and began the second set emphatically, gaining a 4-1 lead. Alcaraz broke Sinner twice to make it 5-4 and the latter was serving for the set when the World No. 2 Spaniard staged a stunning comeback to take the game to the tie-breaker.

Sinner was leading 40-30 in the decisive game but Alcaraz came up with an outstanding shot, wrong-footing the Italian with a sublime forehand winner down the right to draw parity before clinching the game to make it 5-5.

Earlier, in the first set, the two went toe-to-toe till the fourth game before Alcaraz gained the upper hand, breaking Sinner's serve in the fifth game. The Italian, however, came back strongly, returning the favour in the sixth game.

Sinner again broke the defending champion again and won the set 6-4, cashing in on consecutive unforced errors from the Spaniard.

Sinner went ahead 30-40 with a pinpoint cross-court return, before Alcaraz came up with an unforced serve to go 0-1 down. The first set lasted an hour and three minutes.

The victory gives Alcaraz his second Roland Garros title and fifth major overall, maintaining a perfect 5–0 record in Slam finals. He also became just the third man this century—after Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal—to successfully defend a French Open crown.

Alcaraz now leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Sinner 8-4 and extends his season win tally to a Tour-leading 37. With this win, he becomes the first player born in the 2000s to claim 20 tour-level titles.

Despite the loss, Sinner retains his position atop the PIF ATP Rankings with a healthy lead of 2,030 points. Agencies

Final Stats

Jannik Sinner                 Carlos Alcaraz

8                Aces                              7

0                Double faults              6

56%          First serve %                 59%

70%          Win % on 1st serve                        63%

49%          Win % on 2nd serve      62%

7/15          Break points                  7/14

1                Tiebreaks won           2

77              Receiving points won  75

193           Points won                    192

29              Games won                  30

5                Max games won in a row 4

8                Max points won in a row 9

116           Service points won                           117

21              Service games won                          21

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