Tie-breaks, thrills and records: Alcaraz successfully defends French Open title in historic clash with Sinner
Paris: It was tie-breaks, momentum switch-ups and thrills galore at Court Philippe-Chatrier as Carlos Alcaraz successfully defended his French Open title on Sunday in an incredible comeback effort after being two sets down, beating world number one Jannik Sinner in the longest final in the tournament's history.
Nobody could be kept away from action and their top form for too long as a scoreline of 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) separated these two world-class athletes in the first-ever Grand Slam final between players born in 2000s, as per ATP's official website.
Having never battled in a major tournament final, the clash lived upto the hype. In the fifth and deciding set, defeat looked certain for Alcaraz, down 3-5. But he regrouped himself, taking the scoreline to 5-4 and then to a fifth-set tie-break. This was the first-ever French Open final decided by a fifth-set tie-break. Alcaraz won, joining this century's elite company of successful French Open title defenders, Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal.
Immense grit, energy, and insane ball-striking marked this match-up as neither of these two superstar players wanted to leave the court without the championship trophy in their hands.
After the winner, Alcaraz, collapsed to the ground out of tiredness and astonishment, before hugging Sinner. The 22-year-old also holds a brilliant 13-1 fifth-set record. On the other hand, Sinner has a poorer record of 6-10 in fifth sets and has never won a match going beyond three hours and 50 minutes (zero wins and seven losses).
This is Alcaraz's tour-leading 37th win in the season and improves his head-to-head record against Alcaraz to 8-4, having won previous five matches. This is his fifth Grand Slam title and he is the third-youngest to reach the five-major mark, behind , Bjorn Borg (21) and Rafael Nadal (22).
Alcaraz was in form, having won titles in Monte Carlo and Rome, as he headed to Paris. This victory is also his 20th tour-level title, making him the first player born in the 2000s to achieve the milestone.
Sinner, who wanted his second title of the season and 20th overall, has had his own moments this year, with a win at the Australian Open. He aimed to become the fifth man in the Open Era to win three successive major titles. This is his first-ever major final loss, which sinks his once flawless record to 3-1. Despite his loss, Sinner can walk out of the court with is ATP number one ranking intact with lead of 2,030 points.
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