Carlos Alcaraz remains King of Clay, outlasts Sinner in longest French Open final

India Today

4 hours ago

Carlos Alcaraz protected his Roland Garros fortress like a gladiator. He summoned the warrior's spirit within to defeat World No. 1 Jannik Sinner—who had looked unstoppable—in the longest French Open men's singles final on Sunday, 8 June, to defend his crown. Alcaraz achieved what he had never done before: come back from two sets down to do what no one had managed before—beat Sinner in a Grand Slam final. He won an epic five-setter 4–6, 7–6 (4), 4–6, 6–7 (3), 7–6 (10-2) that went into a Super tie-break and lasted 5 hours and 29 minutes.advertisementFrom looking shaky in the opening two sets to conjuring magic with his racquet in the fifth and final tie-break, Carlos Alcaraz showed he could walk on water. It was his second Roland Garros crown and a fifth Grand Slam title for the 22-year-old. | Roland Garros final highlights |The world's top two players produced a spectacle worthy of a post-Nadal epic on Court Philippe-Chatrier. One emerged victorious, the other fell just short—but the contest has laid the foundation for a rivalry that could define the post-Big Three era.CARLOS ALCARAZ DID THE IMPOSSIBLE #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/qUggO9zUi2— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025
'Give the cup to both of them,' wrote Juan Martn del Potro, echoing the sentiments of many left spellbound by the five-hour marathon between two flagbearers of tennis's new generation. Both deserved the Coupe des Mousquetaires—Alcaraz, just a touch more. Just a drop shot more. Just a cross-court backhand winner more.THE 3-HOUR-48-MINUTE MARK advertisementSinner had taken a commanding 2–0 lead in the final. The World No. 1, who had only returned from a three-month doping ban in May, looked set to dethrone the new 'King of Clay', Carlos Alcaraz, whose run to the final had been near-flawless. Sinner's play was surreal—his shot sequences on the Paris clay seemed to redefine the limits of possibility. The Italian, a machine on hard courts, was beginning to look at home on clay. But clay is Alcaraz's territory, and he was carrying the torch lit by Rafael Nadal. On Sunday, however, the fortress seemed to be crumbling.Statistically, Alcaraz had never recovered from a two-set deficit in a Grand Slam. But there was another figure that mattered: three hours and 48 minutes. Sinner had never won a match that extended beyond that mark. Alcaraz seemed to know it. He broke Sinner early in the third set, secured a double break, and wrestled the match into a fourth.The forehand that had let him down late in the second set roared back to life. Those blink-and-you-miss whips, skimming across the clay like bolts of lightning, kept him in the contest. But across the net stood the machine—a near-flawless all-rounder—who nearly shut the door before a fifth set could arrive. At 5–4 in the fourth, with Alcaraz serving to stay in the match, Sinner held three Championship points.advertisementAlcaraz saved them all. The clock ticked past 4:38. It felt destined.From that point on, Sinner seemed to lose his way. Entering uncharted territory, he began to falter. Alcaraz, sensing his opponent's fatigue, raised his level again, showing the world the dazzling shot-making and tireless coverage that made him the wunderkind of modern tennis.He closed the fourth set in a tie-break with jaw-dropping tennis, crunching winners off both wings with equal ferocity. His service games in sets three and four bore little resemblance to his early struggles, where he couldn't win even 50 percent of points on his first serve.While the warrior in him forced a decider, it was the artist in Alcaraz who emerged in the final set. He continued to pound his serves with precision and found the lines that had earlier betrayed him. But now he added something else—his trademark drop shots—to drain what was left of Sinner's energy. The Italian, who had played just one clay-court tournament prior to Roland Garros, grew increasingly frustrated, unable to summon the legs to chase down those teasing drops.But, there was a twist and it came around a drop shot that Alcaraz went for when he was serving for the match at 5-4 in the fifth set. Sinner made the run, this time, diving intoMust Watch