Alcaraz wins longest French Open final in five sets after saving three match points against Sinner

LeMonde

13 hours ago

Carlos Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) on Sunday, June 8, and win the French Open title for a second straight year.
Alcaraz, who won his fifth Grand Slam tournament in as many finals, produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament. It was even better than his performance in last year's final , when he came back from 2-1 down to beat Alexander Zverev. But this time Alcaraz emulated Novak Djokovic's feat from the 2021 final at Roland-Garros, when the now 24-time major winner fought back from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"I'm just proud. I'm just really, really happy," Alcaraz said before praising Sinner. "I know how hard you are chasing this tournament. You're going to be champion, not once, but many, many times. It's a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making this story with you." It was the first time that Sinner had lost a Grand Slam final, but the fifth time in succession he has now lost to Alcaraz, who clinched the 20 th title of his career at the age of 22.
Unending drama
It was also the longest-ever French Open final − 5 hours, 29 minutes − in the Open Era. It was so tight that Sinner won 193 points, Alcaraz 192. It might not have been close to those numbers: After 3 hours, 43 minutes, Sinner had his first match point, but with just over five hours since the match began, Alcaraz served for the title at 5-4 up.
The drama was still not over.
Sinner made a remarkable retrieve from yet another superb Alcaraz drop shot. At the very limit he could stretch to, Sinner glided the ball over the net, with the ball landing with the softness of an autumn leaf and out of Alcaraz's reach to make it 15-40. When Sinner won the game to make it 5-5, it was his turn to milk the applause and he was two points away from victory in the 12 th game, with Alcaraz on serve and at 15-30 and at deuce. But Alcaraz made a staggering cross-court backhand to make it 6-6 and force a tiebreaker, with the crowd going wild when Alcaraz's cross-court winner made it 4-0.
Sinner's sportsmanship
Despite having just lost a chance to win another major, Sinner showed great sportsmanship to give Alcaraz the point for a 30-0 lead in the 11 th game.
Alcaraz's forehand landed at the back of the court and, as the chair umpire prepared to come down and inspect the mark, Sinner told her to go back because he saw the ball was in. The crowd applauded him for that, but was rooting clearly for Alcaraz and the noise level erupted when Alcaraz won the fourth-set tiebreaker to level the match.
By now, the fans had what they wanted − an Alcaraz comeback − and fans showed their unbridled delight when he won points with astounding drop shots from deep or leapt to bang cross-court forehands with astonishing power and accuracy.