Jannik Sinner reacts to heartbreaking French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz
Jannik Sinner threw away three Championship points as he was beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in an incredible, five-set French Open final.
Alcaraz's reign at Roland Garros looked to be over when world number one Sinner closed in on victory in the fourth set.
But Alcaraz saved three match points before breaking the Sinner serve to level a high-quality final at 2-2.
Another tie-break was needed to separate the two best players on the planet but Alcaraz powered to the winning line, winning 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) after five hours and 29 minutes – the longest French Open final in history.
Addressing Court Philippe Chatrier after the heartbreaking defeat, Sinner said: 'First of all Carlos, congrats again.
'Amazing performance, amazing battle, amazing everything. Congrats to you and your team, I'm very happy for you, you deserve it so congrats. More Trending
'To my team, obviously thank you for putting me in this position. We tried our best today, we gave everything we had.
'Some time ago we would have been delighted to be here so it's still an amazing tournament even though it feels very difficult now.
'I won't sleep very well tonight but it's okay. Thank you and I'll see you next year.'
More to follow…
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Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Spain stars huddle around a phone to watch compatriot Carlos Alcaraz's dramatic French Open win over Jannik Sinner ahead of Nations League final
Spain's footballers may have been involved in an international final on Sunday night but their players were still keeping an eye on the action at the French Open. Compatriot Carlos Alcaraz was involved in one of the great major finals as he pulled off an incredible comeback against world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the final at Roland Garros. Alcaraz came back from two sets down and saved three championship points on the way to claim his fifth Grand Slam title in dramatic fashion. It was the longest final in the history of the tournament, lasting five hours and 29 minutes. And that meant it was still going on as Spain's players made their way out on to the pitch at the Munich Football Arena. And a large group of them were seen huddled around a phone watching the match with just over an hour to go until their own final was to begin. Alcaraz sealed his victory minutes before Spain and Portugal's Nations League showdown kicked off. However, there wasn't to be another round of celebrations for the Spanish as Cristiano Ronaldo and co claimed the trophy. La Roja took an early lead through Arsenal target Martin Zubimendi but the Portuguese hit back quickly through Nuno Mendes. Mikel Oyarzabal put Spain back in front shortly before half-time before Ronaldo levelled in the second half. The game ultimately went to penalties with Roberto Martinez's side coming out on top, leaving Ronaldo in tears of joy.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'How was your Sunday?' - reaction to 'King Carlos'
It was a final so engrossing that the Spanish national football team huddled around a mobile phone to watch before their Nations League meeting with Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner put on a performance for the ages as they battled over an epic five sets for the French Open into a corner after losing the opening two sets, defending champion Alcaraz came out swinging - and saved three championship points on the way - to win 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2).Just two minutes before Spain kicked off their Nations League final against Portugal at 20:00 BST, their compatriot Alcaraz had defied the odds to complete his magnificent compatriots, who also went the distance before losing on penalties, watched at least some of his heroics as they took in their surroundings on the field at the Allianz Arena in Munich. Alcaraz could not resist posting an image of himself, external holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires, with the caption: "How was your Sunday?"And the 22-year-old received widespread praise for the manner in which he got over the line to land a fifth Grand Slam title, achieving that feat at the exact same age as his legendary compatriot Rafael Nadal - 22 years, one month and three Madrid, who Alcaraz supports, were among those to congratulate him, writing:, external "All madridistas are happy and proud of this brilliant success achieved by one of our own."Former Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos re-shared a photo, external of himself and Alcaraz from 2022 - captioned "The future. And me" - with a new message, simply reading: "Told you".The PGA Tour compared and even raised Alcaraz above one of the golfing greats - 15-time major winner Tiger Woods."Five majors by age 22. Not even Tiger Woods did that," the organisation posted, from the sporting world, Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey made sure to credit Italy's Sinner as well, external, writing: "Thank you Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz for the absolute elite 'mano y mano' [hand and hand] competition. Wow." 'King Carlos the second' With an opening game lasting 12 minutes, it felt inevitable that the final between the two best players in the world would be a the end, Alcaraz and Sinner put everything on the line for five hours and 29 minutes - the longest French Open final in as the fifth set got under way at around 18:45 BST, British tennis player Naomi Broady had to make the executive call to alter her travel plans."I've just changed my Eurostar ticket because I think it is safe to say I'm not going to make the 9pm one," Broady said on BBC Radio 5 was worth it, with an emotional Broady saying afterwards she felt "so lucky that I got to be here to witness this"."It feels like this is absolutely going to be a historic moment of our sport," she British number one Greg Rusedski likened Alcaraz to Hungarian escapologist Harry Houdini, while on TNT Sports, commentator Nick Mullins crowned him "King Carlos the second - the red king in the longest Roland Garros final"."Carlos certainly didn't invent tennis, but he is perfecting it," former British player Mark Petchey added on TNT Sports. The most epic Grand Slam final ever? We've been treated to some incredible spectacles over the years, especially in the 'Big Three' era of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael who is still chasing a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title, is the only one left standing. The 38-year-old great lost in three sets to Sinner in the Paris future of men's tennis undoubtedly looks bright with Alcaraz and Sinner steering the where does their final rank in the all-time list?Tennis has seen some epic Grand Slam battles, including:Nadal v Federer - Wimbledon (2008)Nadal and Federer had to battle it out over four hours and 48 minutes (it was actually nearly seven hours due to rain delays). Nadal held off a thrilling fightback to win in five sets. Djokovic v Nadal - Australian Open (2012)Djokovic outlasted Nadal after five hours and 53 minutes to win his fifth Grand Slam title in a match that finished at 01:37 local v Djokovic - Wimbledon (2013) Andy Murray took three hours and nine minutes to see off Djokovic and ending Britain's 77-year wait for a men's Wimbledon champion. Federer v Djokovic - Wimbledon (2019)Djokovic saved two championship points in Wimbledon's longest singles final, which last four hours and 57 minutes, to beat Federer.
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Carlos Alcaraz ‘really happy' after battling Jannik Sinner for French Open glory
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. 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. 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. Jannik Sinner had three championship points (Thibault Camus/AP) 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.'
