5 Grand Slams at 22 years, 1 month, 3 days, just like Nadal: Alcaraz calls it destiny
Carlos Alcaraz called it destiny as he went level with Rafael Nadal's tally of grand slam wins by beating Jannik Sinner in a thrilling French Open final on Sunday, June 8. Alcaraz won his fifth grand slam on Sunday after coming back to beat Sinner in a titanic battle and equalled the tally of his idol Nadal at the age of 22 days, 1 month and 3 days. Nadal beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2008 to win his fifth grand slam at the same age.advertisementSpeaking after the win, Alcaraz said, as quoted by Reuters, that it was a stat he would keep with him forever. The young Spaniard hailed his legendary compatriot as his idol and inspiration before saying it is a huge honour for him to share a record with the record-time French Open winner.'The coincidence of winning my fifth Grand Slam at the same age as Rafa Nadal, I'm going to say that's destiny," Alcaraz said of equalling Nadal's tally of five major titles at the same stage of their careers.
"It is a stat that I'm going to keep for me forever, winning the fifth Grand Slam at the same time as Rafa, my idol, my inspiration. It's a huge honour."Alcaraz was two sets down in the final and conceded three championship points to Sinner in the third set before making a stunning comeback to win the final 4–6, 6–7 (4), 6-4, 7–6 (3), 7–6 (10-2) in a match that went on for 5 hours and 29 minutes. The Spaniard credited the crowd at Roland Garros for his win on the day.advertisement'Without them, it would have been impossible to come back,' he said. 'At the start of the third set, everything was going his way. I had to delete those thoughts from my mind and fight.''I don't know how I saved that game'Speaking about the turning point in the match for him, Alcaraz said that it was when he was 6-5 in the fifth set with everything going Sinner's way at that time and still force the match into a super tie-breaker.The match points were not great points. I saved match points, it's great but the points were not good," said Alcaraz."At 6-5 in the fifth at 15-30 or 30-all, advantage for me, 40-all. Those points I remember pretty clear, and honestly I still don't know how I did it."I mean, it was balls on the line, slicing the line. He was dominating that game. Honestly I still don't know how I saved that game."Alcaraz will now turn his attention to defending his crown at Wimbledon.Must Watch
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