Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and the privilege of watching a French Open final that will change tennis
At the highest level of sport, you can never say it doesn't matter who wins on the night. Especially in tennis, where the gauntlet-like knockout structure is so demanding, so brutal, where losing equals failing, no second chances, one winner and one loser. In all the greatest matches scattered across tennis history, the stakes are of such a nature that winning or losing felt like a matter of life or death.
Something about Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner at the French Open 2025 finals transcended this binary. At the end of their instantly legendary 5h 29m battle of wits on Court Phillipe Chartrier, it was the Spaniard Alcaraz who came out on top and lifted the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires, defending his title from last year. It was he who denied Sinner the chance to join him on four grand slam titles, snatching away three championship points for the Italian, and winning, already, his fifth.
And yet, despite this being the first grand slam final meeting between the new faces of men's tennis, it truly feels like the quality of this match made the ultimate champion somewhat irrelevant – at least within that grand schematic of elite sports. Two men who went toe-to-toe with incredible tennis against the harshest conditions and under the most pressure, going back and forth and having an answer for everything the other threw at them.
Also Read: Jannik Sinner ends silence on why he couldn't win match point in 4th set in French Open final against Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz ultimately had too much weaponry at his disposal, elevating his level of play to an extremely high standard where it felt like he had lightning sparkling from his fingertips in every rally. And that is what it took to beat this monstrous machine of a man across the net, Sinner having bulldozed his way through the rest of the draw, and for the first two sets here, Alcaraz as well.
Alcaraz's ability to generate a comeback for the ages is only one part of what the story of this match will look like in tennis history books years down the line. That's how good this magical, sensational, gladiatorial contest on clay was, that when looking back at this as a moment of time, it might just obscure the result. For tennis, it's a blessing. For fans old and new, this was a once-in-a-lifetime privilege to watch the otherworldly creation of legend.
Also Read: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal burn the internet after Carlos Alcaraz beats Jannik Sinner in greatest French Open final
This year's Roland Garros began with Rafael Nadal, the 14-time French Open champion, being commemorated in a special ceremony, his footprint marking the Chartrier court he made his own. This ceremony at the start of the fortnight celebrated his incredible career, with his great rivals Federer, Djokovic, and Murray present to tip their caps to the recently-retired Spaniard. Nadal, Federer, and Murray have all already stepped away from the sport, and Djokovic keeps the flag flying, but at 38-years-old, it won't be forever.
When that is the level of greatness that men's tennis has said goodbye to in the last couple of years, it creates a vacuum that is larger than life and feels impossible to fill. What Alcaraz vs Sinner on Sunday night did is to occupy that vacuum with all of their being, creating tennis drama at a scale that promises that these two young men will bridge that generational gap, from the era of the big four to whatever comes next.
This was a classic match, a phenomenon within itself, that has received incredible engagement and interest worldwide. It is almost single-handedly set to introduce new fans to the sport, to open their eyes to all the beauty and the brilliance that is part of this game. This is why it matters that the spectacle of Alcaraz vs Sinner produced how it did: it took the two biggest talents in the sport, showcased all their genius and their fighting spirit from both sides of the net, and their remarkable sportsmanship and bonhomie with each other to boot.
They delivered on a promise that this is not only the golden future of tennis. This is the here and now, and these are two players who are ready to elevate this sport to a standard it hasn't experienced before. The match that will come to define a new epoch.

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Indian Express
21 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Spare your sympathies, Jannik Sinner still the man to beat in tennis
As Carlos Alcaraz came up with a generational heist to steal the French Open out from under Jannik Sinner's feet on Sunday, videos of his celebration, with his team and the crowd, played on the big screen. As the camera panned to Sinner, he could be seen sitting there emotionless, not daring to look up. He had suffered the cruelest ignominy in his sport: blowing as many as three championship points in a Major final and losing the title. The picture was of stark misery. Later he would pick up the microphone and speak with grace but betray no emotion, articulating in small staccato sentences – perfectly characteristic of the soft-spoken nature of the hard-hitting World No. 1. The manner of Sinner's defeat, the distress on display in its aftermath, and all of its 'near-loss' narrative may elicit all kinds of pity towards the young Italian. But save your breath, and your sympathies; for this is no novice. The 23-year-old from Italy is the commanding force in the men's game at present, who has won nine trophies, including three Majors, in the last 18 months. Two days prior to the final, he humbled a fit and firing Novak Djokovic in straight sets in a manner not seen before on the crushed brick in Paris by anyone not named Rafael Nadal. Trust him to be back. Sinner may not reach Alcaraz's level of superstardom. The Spaniard shines so brightly under the spotlight that he often dims those around him. Sinner's subtler game of refined, well-worked baseline play lacks the sparkle of his rival's penchant for the spectacular. His mild manner pales in comparison to Alcaraz's charisma. But none of that has stopped him from becoming the definitive standard-setter in present-day men's tennis. There is a methodical efficiency about him, his strategies constructed entirely around stretching players around the court, waiting for the ball to come into his hitting zone and then blowing them away with his pure hitting. The consistency he has achieved has not even been matched by Alcaraz. Despite serving a three-month suspension, he holds a lead over his rival as the highest-ranked player by over 2,000 points. Sunday's result was the kind of setback that could wreak all sorts of havoc in a young player's mind. It's nothing he has not faced before. In August last year, it emerged that Sinner had failed two dope tests, but was cleared by tennis's governing bodies after successfully proving his case of accidental contamination. Allegations of cheating, infamy on such a public scale for a player as young as him, are an easy disruptor. But the Italian's response? Since then, he has won 47 of his last 50 matches, Alcaraz the only player on tour to have beaten him in that time. When the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the case, they eventually came to a mutual settlement with Sinner's team for the Italian to take a voluntary three-month ban that would see him miss no Majors, a monumental development for the World No. 1 to serve a three-month anti-doping suspension. Sinner, once again, responded serenely, reaching two finals of both tournaments he has played in the one month since, also answering questions about his game on his least favourite surface of clay. Call it a result of his upbringing in the cold, mountainous South Tyrol region of Italy, but the high-bouncing, ultra-physical tennis played under the baking Parisian sun do not compliment Sinner's natural strengths. Converting those – lateral movement powered by small steps as opposed to slides, and destructive groundstrokes that are flatter and not spin-laden – to clay have been a tall order for the Italian. He did so in a style of his own, sticking to his hard court guns by continuing to flatten out groundstrokes, and serving with accuracy. The balls did not come naturally onto his racquet like they do on the synthetic courts, but he met the higher bounces by taking balls on the rise, especially on the backhand side, and hitting through his opponents with the same ease he does on hard courts. At the French Open, he won 20 consecutive sets before he was one point away from beating the best clay court player on tour on the surface's biggest stage. Sunday's glitch did expose that he is not yet the finished article. For his head to scramble the way it did, not only hitting three routine errors when up match point but also failing to later serve it out, was not a positive sign. The Italian press later rightly pointed out that he tends to miss his first serves under pressure too often. And that his net approaches prove a confusion in his mind, almost as if he knows he needs to mix up his baseline game, but is unsure about how and when. But had he not pulled off a daring escape of his own – instead of fading, he rose his level, came back from a break down, and took Alcaraz to searing heights, producing the best tennis of the tournament in the decider – the match would not have reached epic proportions. His slipup is no indicator that he lacks a cutthroat edge. Sinner himself came back from a two-set deficit against Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final, to win his first Major in his very first final. Stinging defeats like the one he suffered on Sunday have happened in the past, and he has rebounded from them bullishly too. Sinner does not have a natural preference for the low, skidding, slippery grass of Wimbledon either, but he has improved over time, reaching the semifinals for the last two years. Alongside the two-time defending champion Alcaraz, and the wily Djokovic who looks in as fine touch as he could be, he will be an equal contender there next month.


Hindustan Times
22 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
From clay to spray: Nadal's team leads electric charge on Adriatic waves
* Nadal's team leads E1 World Championship after Doha victory * E1 series promotes sustainable marine tech and coastal conservation * Celebrity owners include LeBron James, Tom Brady, and Virat Kohli June 10 - As Rafa Nadal gets used life after tennis, he has let go of his racquets to spend time on the Adriatic waves, steering his Team Rafa into electric powerboat racing's E1 World Championship in Dubrovnik. Days after the retired 14-times Roland Garros champion was immortalised at the French Open with a permanent footprint on centre court's famed red clay, the Spaniard's racing team tops a tightly contested series heading into the Croatian round, following a dramatic victory last time out in Doha. Team Rafa currently leads the standings following success in Doha, as the electric boat racing series begins its European leg on June 13-14 along Croatia's coast. The tennis great's boat is piloted by Spanish professional jet ski racer Cristina Lazarrage and Frenchman Tom Chiappe. The E1 World Championship is the first all-electric raceboat series sanctioned by powerboating's global governing body, the Union Internationale Motonautique , and is designed to accelerate innovation in sustainable marine technology and coastal conservation. Teams featuring both male and female pilots compete in electric-powered RaceBird boats, racing through urban water circuits in iconic global cities. Celebrity owners include LeBron James, Tom Brady, Virat Kohli and Didier Drogba as well as 22-times Grand Slam champion Nadal. The championship continues to Lake Maggiore and Monaco before concluding in Miami, where "Champions of the Water" will be crowned on Nov. 8.


India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
AS Roma manager Claudio Ranieri rejects Italy head coach job for Seire A stay
AS Roma's interim manager, Claudio Ranieri, has decided to reject an offer to take charge of the Italian national team, opting instead to continue his association with the Serie A club in an advisory role. The 73-year-old, who guided Roma through the latter part of the 2023-24 season, was the top candidate to replace Luciano Spalletti after the latter's dismissal but has chosen to remain loyal to the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) had identified Ranieri as the ideal successor to Spalletti, who was sacked following Italy's disappointing performances, including a recent loss to Norway. The FIGC even proposed a unique dual role, allowing Ranieri to manage the national team while staying at Roma, along with the prospect of becoming Italy's technical director in the future. However, after discussions with Roma owner Dan Friedkin, Ranieri declined the offer, prioritizing his commitment to the club.'I thank President Gravina for the opportunity, a great honour, but I reflected and decided to remain at Roma's disposal in my new role in a total way. The Friedkins have given me their full support and backing for any decision I have made regarding the national team, but the decision is mine alone," Ranieri told ANSAadvertisement With Ranieri out of contention, the FIGC has now shifted focus to former AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli as their next preferred tenure as Italy boss came to an abrupt end after just nine months in charge. Despite a promising 3-1 victory over France in the Nations League, inconsistent results—including a quarterfinal collapse against Germany—sealed his fate. The FIGC, desperate to avoid missing a third consecutive World Cup, acted swiftly to remove who previously managed Roma in 2009-11, returned as an interim coach this season and has now transitioned into an advisory position. His decision to stay highlights his strong connection with the club, leaving the FIGC to explore other options ahead of crucial Euro 2028 qualifiers.