Alcaraz's ridiculous victory over Sinner sets tone for next decade of rivalry at top of tennis

The Guardian

4 hours ago

Five hours into the madness, when their legs should have been fading and sanity departing, the miraculous French Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner ascended to even greater heights. So much had already happened. For a long time, Alcaraz had been dominated with the same ruthless efficiency Sinner reserved for the rest of the field and he soon stared into the abyss, trailing triple championship point at 3-5, 0-40 in the fourth set.
That moment would instead mark the beginning of Alcaraz's unprecedented, preposterous comeback as he completely turned the match around. He soon closed in on victory, leading by a break in the fifth set against a weary opponent. With his back to the wall, time running out, Sinner produced a transcendent return game as Alcaraz served for the title at 5-4 to draw level again.
In their delirium, desperation meeting sheer ambition, the moment elicited the best of both players. Having invested so much time and effort into their pursuit of this title, they simply had no choice but to abjure all thoughts from their minds and swing as freely as possible. The frenzied final games of the 2025 French Open final will go down as one of the greatest stretches of play in the history of grand slam championship matches. In the end, the suffocating pressure imposed by Sinner inspired Alcaraz to elevate his own level to wondrous heights.
Despite how rapidly he has built an all-time great career, Alcaraz has had his own struggles on the court. His game is so complete and he has so many more options at his disposal than any adversary, but this can also play tricks on his mind. At its worst, he plays disordered and chaotic tennis. He goes for overzealous, low percentage shots and his impulsiveness takes over. Occasionally, he hits himself off the court. Just as he can bulldoze any opponent on any day, he is also capable of taking a straight sets loss to Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the US Open, as he did last year.
In tennis, however, success means rising up in the most important moments. Beyond Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, nobody thrives under those circumstances like Alcaraz. His ability to find order after his game was in total disarray seconds earlier is remarkable. Alcaraz knows his quality and he believes his potential is boundless. He tackles those tough moments with the full belief that he can always find a path to victory regardless of the obstacle before him. Down triple championship point Alcaraz was still reassuring his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero: 'He was love-40 in the fourth, 5-3, and he looks at me and still make me like this [shaking] the racket, saying: 'I'm still here,' said Ferrero.
Sign up to The Recap
The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action
after newsletter promotion
Even though still at the start of his career, Alcaraz is starting to have a record for winning tight matches than few other players in the game's history can rival. He trailed Alexander Zverev by two sets to one before turning the match around in last year's final. He improbably found a path to victory in his breathless 2023 Wimbledon win against Djokovic. This comeback victory over Sinner had been preceded by another win from match point down in their 2022 US Open quarter-final before Alcaraz won the title. He is now the second player in history, after Djokovic, to win multiple major titles from match point down and he is a perfect 5-0 in major finals. He is only 22.
By defending his French Open title, Alcaraz is the third youngest men's player to win five grand slam titles. It has been obvious for years that Alcaraz has set himself on a path to becoming one of the greats but only time will determine if he has the longevity to come at all close to the generation that preceded him. As Alcaraz and Sinner pushed each other to the limits of their powers, the spectacle on Sunday night underlined the important role they will each play in their rival's career.
This was the first grand slam final between Alcaraz, a five-time champion, and Sinner, a three-time champion, who have now equally split the last six major titles between them. There has been so much hype around this rivalry for years and both players felt the significance of the match-up. Still, after decades of dominance by Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer, and the many classics they played between them, the standard they set for greatness is so tough to reach. It was reasonable to accept that the new generation might not be able to immediately live up to those high standards.
Instead, in a tournament that began with Nadal's elaborate farewell ceremony and saw an emotional Djokovic admit he is unsure about whether he will return to Paris next year, Alcaraz and Sinner used the occasion to play one of the greatest grand slam finals of all time, affirming their status as leaders in this new era of men's tennis to the world and setting the tone for what could be a decade at the top of the sport. These matches will make them better, the minuscule margins between them inspiring them to constantly improve and work on their games. Even as they tussle across borders and surfaces, their combined greatness will also help them to stay more than a step ahead of the rest.