Alcaraz Comes Back From Brink To Beat Sinner In French Open Final

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner had a one hundred per cent record in seven Grand Slam singles finals before they finally met on the last business day on Sunday. It was worth the wait. Alcaraz was the invincible, irresistible force who somehow defeated Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (10-2) to grab a second consecutive French Open to add to his two Wimbledons and the 2022 Flushing Meadows title.

Something had to give, but it only did so after a back-bending, body-breaking five hours and 29 minutes of brilliant tennis at Roland Garros. The spirit, skill and pure survival instinct of these two men transcended the scoreline. The sting of defeat will be particularly painful for Sinner who was two sets and a break up.

Not only that, he held three Championship points when Alcaraz was 3-5, 0-40 down in the fourth set. The world No.1 temporarily overcame his despair to sound mellow and gracious in the post-match speech. Sinner said that he wouldn’t sleep well. That might be an understatement.

The match began in top gear. The defending champion was on to Sinner’s serve in an opener that lasted a dozen minutes. The first three games were played over a mesmerizing 25 minutes with break point opportunities for both. Alcaraz finally succeeded at the seventh attempt to go 3-2 up but then handed the initiative straight back. His level dropped off a few crevices rather than totally off the cliff. It was enough of a dip to let the Italian dominate for the next hour and a half.

Sinner looked like a man who doesn’t have to think hard or compute. He just hits the tennis ball in very often. While he lost against the same opponent in Rome a fortnight ago, the 23-year-old had just returned from his three-month doping suspension. He wasn’t quite ready to win that trophy. A fortnight later, his levels jumped to a higher plane that Alcaraz couldn’t quite catch.

Sinner was able to neuter the Wimbledon champion’s serve by placing returns centrally to cut off the angles. This eventually subdued his opponent who became increasingly agitated at his corner. Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero sat rather impassively, contemplating his charge’s first defeat in a major.

Alcaraz let the first set go after becoming distracted with dust in his eye and then committing four unforced errors. The second set marched away from him too as a laser-focused Sinner upped his forehand pace. Suddenly, the 22-year-old decided to go raging bull on court, making it back from 2-5 to a tie-break.

Sinner resisted the momentum and played a superb breaker to make it 31 consecutive sets in majors, and then backed it up at the beginning of the third to turn the screw. The momentum swing and crushing nature of this dire situation would have finished off lesser players. Alcaraz was also 0-8 when two sets to love down.

He’s not normal in major finals with a heart that embraces the heat of the furnace. The world No. 2 broke Sinner three times in the third and Court Philippe-Chatrier started the roar of a jump-started engine.

Sinner repaired his armory in the fourth set and became almost impenetrable on serve, finding a perfect return game to break at 4-3. Alcaraz saved three match points and then took the tie-break brilliantly, recovering from 0-2 to 7-3.

Sinner looked out on his feet with cramps and wasn’t even running towards Alcaraz’s drop shots at the start of the fifth. He was cooked. A double break appeared inevitable. Maybe the pickle juice acted as a pick-me-up because he started to regenerate in the nick of time. Alcaraz served for the match but couldn’t get over the line when Sinner started pounding those groundstrokes once again.

Alcaraz found his mojo in a magnificently executed match tie-break which was just ten points too many for a weary Sinner. Alcaraz certainly has a knack of winning in shootouts just before his countrymen take to the soccer pitch. At Wimbledon, he demolished Novak Djokovic and then watched Spain beat England at Euro 24. On Sunday, Roberto Martinez’s team watched Alcaraz on their mobile phones before they took on Portugal in the UEFA Nations League Final. Sadly, they didn’t retain the same composure in their shootout.

This French Open final will live long in the memory although Alcaraz himself said it wasn’t quite on the level of the 2012 Melbourne encounter between Rafa Nadal and Djokovic which was almost six hours.

Andre Agassi, who also came back from two sets down to win the title in 1999, presented Alcaraz with the trophy. Sinner joked that “It’s easier to play than talking now” but was full of respect for the audience, the ball boys, the officials and his opponent. It was a remarkably civil way to handle his devastation. The crowd warmed to him too as he showed his feelings in the fifth.

Alcaraz’s appreciation of his opponent was heartfelt. “I have to say thank you for being such a great inspiration,” said the champion.

Alcaraz is now 5-0 in slam finals and has won the last five battles against Sinner. This is only the start of an epic rivalry. The Next Gen match-up has delivered a perfect starter before the next main course. Wimbledon awaits.