logo
Carlos Alcaraz ‘really happy' after battling Jannik Sinner for French Open glory

Carlos Alcaraz ‘really happy' after battling Jannik Sinner for French Open glory

Carlos Alcaraz broke more new ground after coming from two sets down and saving three match points to overcome Jannik Sinner and defend his French Open title in the longest final in Roland Garros history.
The Spaniard showed incredible reserves of energy and willpower to win a five-hour 29-minute marathon and deny world number one Sinner a third consecutive grand slam title.
It was the first time in his career that Alcaraz had overturned a two-set deficit as he claimed his fifth major crown at exactly the same age as his idol Rafael Nadal did, aged 22 years, one month and three days old.
Alcaraz has now won all five grand slam finals he has played – and this was the first to be played between two players born this century.
Carlos Alcaraz won this final. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/PQeBmK58Ay
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025
It was also the first grand slam final meeting of the two young superstars of men's tennis, the best players on the planet, who have now shared the last six major titles.
And it is one that will go down as a cast-iron classic, a final for the ages, a high-quality, no-holds barred box office smash which finished 4-6 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-6 (3) 6-4 (10-2) to the man from Murcia.
Alcaraz said: 'This one was the most exciting match that I've played so far, without a doubt.
'I think the match had everything, really good moments, really bad moments. I'm just really, really happy. I'm proud about how I deal with everything today.
'I mean, it wasn't easy. The first match that I came back from two sets to love down. I think it was in a better occasion to do it in the final of a grand slam.'
Italian Sinner, on a 20-match winning streak at the slams, looked certain to add the French title to his US and Australian Open crowns when he forged two sets ahead.
He had lost his previous four matches against Alcaraz – the most recent in the Rome final last month, his first tournament after serving a three-month doping ban.
Some loose hitting from Alcaraz gave Sinner a break in the first game of the third, but perhaps being short of matches after his enforced absence was beginning to tell as last year's winner clawed back the deficit to force a fourth.
HIStory. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/jjs5wdiRtu
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025
That ended a run of 31 consecutive sets won by Sinner at grand slam tournaments, stretching back to the Australian Open fourth round.
Alcaraz has wriggled out of some scrapes in big matches before, but none tighter than finding himself facing three championship points on his own serve.
But he gathered himself on the baseline, took a deep breath, and served nervelessly, saving all three before breaking back to force a tie-break, and subsequently a decider.
Sinner has never before won a match lasting longer than four hours – mainly because rarely has to – but he was guzzling the pickle juice at the changeover to try and find more energy.
But Alcaraz, having clinched an early break, served for the set – only for Sinner to somehow chase down an outrageous drop shot to level a roller-coaster match again.
A 10-point tie-break was needed to separate them, an early-evening shoot-out to decide the champion, and by now Alcaraz had his eye in.
A glorious winner, a drop-shot and volley and some wayward swats from Sinner helped him race ahead and a final, spectacular forehand winner sealed an unbelievable victory.
Sinner said: 'Of course, I'm happy to deliver this kind of level, and happy about the tournament still. But obviously, this one hurts.
'There's not so much to talk right now. But again, I'm happy how we are trying to improve every day and trying to put myself in these kind of positions.
'It's a very high-level match, that's for sure. So I'm happy to be part of this. But yeah, the final result hurts.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Extraordinary moment tennis star Fabio Fognini tells rival to 'look at me you little PIG, you're a piece of s***' in X-rated handshake outburst as tensions boil over after Stuttgart defeat
Extraordinary moment tennis star Fabio Fognini tells rival to 'look at me you little PIG, you're a piece of s***' in X-rated handshake outburst as tensions boil over after Stuttgart defeat

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

Extraordinary moment tennis star Fabio Fognini tells rival to 'look at me you little PIG, you're a piece of s***' in X-rated handshake outburst as tensions boil over after Stuttgart defeat

Fabio Fognini and Corentin Moutet shared an exceptionally tense handshake at the net following the Frenchman's win in Stuttgart, with things very nearly turning ugly. Moutet ran out the winner in three sets against the Italian veteran, winning 6-4 6-7 6-3 in Germany, in a fascinating encounter between two of the circuit's more highly-strung characters. Indeed, even before the drama at the close, Fognini had already snapped his racquet in two during the match. But once Fognini's miscued backhand sealed the tie in Moutet's favour, the tense exchanged turned sour. After pointing to his head and hitting the ball into the crowd, Moutet made his way towards the net. Fognini, with his eyes intent on Moutet, approaches the net for a handshake, with the latter doing the same, but something appeared to not have sat right with the Italian. Spicy handshake 🌶️ @moutet99 wins the battle of the entertainers 6-4 6-7 6-3 vs Fognini 🍿 #BOSSOPEN — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 10, 2025 Despite Moutet clearly looking at him at first, and seemingly saying something that the microphones don't catch, Fognini however doesn't relinquish his grasp on his victor's hand as they walk over to the umpire's chair. The Italian can then be heard speaking to Moutet in French, saying: 'Look at me, look at me!' Moutet chooses to ignore him, even when Fognini bars his way to his chair as both then shake hands with the umpire. Yet Fognini is still clearly incensed by something, and appears to say: 'Little pig! You're s***!' Moutet seemingly continues to ignore the veteran before making his way off the court, taking in the applause of the crowd once more. Fognini, the former World No 9, had been handed a wildcard entry for the event, but falls at the first round, while Moutet will go on to take on favourite Alexander Zverev. While not so much the aggressor in this particular coming together, Moutet has been involved in similar on-court flare-ups before. He had a coming together with Alexander Bublik earlier this year with the pair needing to be kept apart by chair umpire Marta Mrozinska. The Kazakhstan star became incensed after the Frenchman claimed he was not ready to face serve. 'I don't care!' Bublik then retorted, before going one step further. 'Do you want to fight? Let's go, we'll meet outside in ten minutes. This little Frenchman talks but he doesn't want to fight!' Fognini, for his part, has also had run-ins with Andy Murray in the past, who once told him to 'shut up' mid-match back in 2019.

Coco Gauff makes complaint after winning French Open as she details trophy woe
Coco Gauff makes complaint after winning French Open as she details trophy woe

Daily Mirror

time2 hours ago

  • Daily Mirror

Coco Gauff makes complaint after winning French Open as she details trophy woe

Coco Gauff became tennis' new Queen of Clay after her victory at the French Open over the weekend, but was unable to take the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy home with her If Coco Gauff was feeling elated after her sensational French Open triumph, then the night out that followed didn't quite live up to expectations. So much so that she's complained night's out after major sporting events should be made ILLEGAL! The American secured her second Grand Slam title on Saturday, staging a remarkable comeback against Aryna Sabalenka. The final was a rollercoaster, with Sabalenka initially seizing control, but Gauff rallied to dominate the second set 6-2 and clinched the match with a 6-4 win in the decider. ‌ The victory was sweet for Gauff, who fell short against Iga Swiatek in the French Open final three years ago and comes nearly two years after her maiden Major win at the 2023 US Open. ‌ In high spirits, Gauff took to TikTok to share her post-match celebrations, albeit with a tongue-in-cheek tone as she captioned her video: "Going out after winning a sporting event should be illegal." She humorously lamented the post-victory condition, saying, "You're emotional, dehydrated, starving, and then they put champagne in my hand. Of course I'm going out bad.... I had fun tho we upppppppp." Gauff journeyed back to the USA on Monday - but revealed that her endeavours in Paris weren't enough for her to take the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy back home with her. The 21-year-old displayed the 'mini replica' she had been given and explained how the real one "stays with the tournament." "It's the memories that matter the most," she added. Gauff has her sights set on accumulating more Grand Slam titles following her victory. After triumphing at Roland Garros, she reflected: "I think this win was harder than the first [title] because you don't want to get satisfied with just that one." ‌ "I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago. I'm just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts." She also triumphed in a post-match war of words with Sabalenka, who had bitterly declared that she had been "terrible" and that Swiatek would've beaten Gauff - a sentiment the American refused to entertain and brutally shut down. ‌ "I mean, I don't agree with that," she responded when told of Sabalenka's words. "I'm here sitting here." Gauff also referenced her recent dominating win over Swiatek at the Madrid Open" "Last time I played - no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. "Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen. Yeah, honestly the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final. "Her being No.1 in the world was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone."

Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife
Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife

Wales Online

time3 hours ago

  • Wales Online

Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife

Novak Djokovic quit tennis in tearful confession to wife Novak Djokovic actually decided to quit tennis in 2018 before a tearful plea from his family and team inspired a U-turn that saw him go on to win 12 more Grand Slam titles Novak Djokovic relaxes with his wife Jelena Djokovic (Image:) Novak Djokovic had previously decided to hang up his racket and informed his sponsors that he would be ending his tennis career, before a change of heart saw him sweep up an additional 12 Grand Slam titles. Back in 2018, with half of his major titles under his belt, the sceptre of disillusionment loomed over the Serb, following recurrent injuries and the end of his coaching partnership with Andre Agassi. ‌ The shock fourth-round exit to Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open was succeeded by elbow surgery for Djokovic, disrupting a career plagued by injury since the previous year. His return to the courts wasn't without setbacks; a loss to Taro Daniel at Indian Wells struck another blow. ‌ A subsequent defeat by Benoit Paire at the Miami Masters was Djokovic's tipping point, prompting a heart-to-heart with his team and wife, Jelena Djokovic, where he expressed his resolve to retire. In a candid interview with Slaven Bilic titled 'Failure of the Champion', Djokovic recounted how a transformative break in the Dominican Republic helped him overturn his retirement decision. In a 2020 conversation with journalist Graham Bensinger, Jelena relayed the gripping tale: "After that match, he wanted to quit. He gathered all the members of his team and told them, 'You know what: I'm done, I'm quitting.' We cried and told him that he couldn't do it, that it wasn't the right time. He didn't want to play tennis, and he didn't even want to see a ball pass in front of him." Djokovic was so devastated that his wife recalls a time following a significant loss when he instructed his then-agent Edoardo Artaldi to inform his sponsors, including Lacoste, about potentially ending his career. "It was a terrible loss," she said, reports the Express. Article continues below "And then he just, you know, gathered all of us and said, 'You know guys, I'm done.' And I was like, 'What?' And he goes like, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Edoardo, you can speak with my sponsors. "'I want to be clear with them. I don't know if I'm stopping for six months, a year, or forever. Just tell them if they feel like sticking around they can. If they don't, I'm happy. I just want to make sure everybody is OK with this.'". Yet, it was Djokovic's family, especially his wife and their children, Stefan and Tara, who became his motivation to reconsider retirement. Jelena mentioned how despite his initial reluctance, being around the sport casually through his family reignited his passion for tennis. ‌ "He didn't want to know anything about it," she explained. "But I love tennis and I take the kids to the court every day. On the third day, Novak arrived. "He saw we were having fun and that it wasn't a workout like what he had been used to for years. When Novak asked me if he could play and get a racket, I initially refused. "I started teasing him and told him that he had given up. That now it was our turn to play tennis. But eventually, he served, felt good, and then he returned each day until deciding to call his coach Marian Vajda to renew training." ‌ After a career-defining U-turn that led to an additional 12 Grand Slam titles and a record-breaking total of 24, the tennis legend's pursuit of a 25th triumph at the French Open came to a halt in the semi-finals, with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner besting him in straight sets. Post-match, the 38 year old sportsman sparked speculation about his future at Roland Garros with a poignant show of appreciation towards the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier and a meaningful touch of the clay. Reflecting on the moment during his press conference, he confessed: "This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know." Article continues below He continued, expressing his emotions: "That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end. But if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store