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New York Times
10-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
What Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's French Open final said about five-set tennis
Case closed. The end of the argument. Best-of-five-set-tennis haters in shambles. Whether tennis should eliminate its longest format is an ongoing discussion, but for its advocates, Sunday's instant classic French Open final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz was the ultimate endorsement. Five and a half hours of undulating tension and elite-level competition, given deeper meaning by how its length raised the significance of the match's decisive moments. The format allowed the match to take on an epic quality, elevating Sinner and Alcaraz's rivalry, previously incipient to the wider world outside of tennis, into something transcendental. The Wimbledon finals between Björn Borg and John McEnroe in 1980, and then Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2008, had the same effect. Advertisement The highs of matches like Sunday's is a compelling, possibly inarguable, case for the upsides of the format outweighing the downsides, but for dedicated tennis followers, the downsides are harder to ignore. But for regular watchers of the sport, there most certainly are downsides. Five-set matches like the Sinner-Alcaraz classic are rare. While their computer-game fast, extremely physical and incredibly powerful tennis is awe-inspiring, it's more often the case that even matches between two of the world's best players have sags and dips. Alcaraz and Sinner met in last year's French Open semifinal in another five-set match. That one was scratchy and strange. They rarely played well at the same time, and with both of them having physical issues toward the end, there was a lot of energy conservation at the end of sets. A more typical five-set Grand Slam match would be something like Tommy Paul vs. Karen Khachanov, from this year's fourth round. Two well-matched players — the No. 12 seed and the No. 24 seed — swapping sets for four hours, seven minutes. On Sunday, no one wanted Sinner vs. Alcaraz to end. More often, five-set matches ebb unsatisfyingly before eventually reaching the end. Tennis was not designed to take anywhere near this long. It was conceived of as a sport where even five-set matches would take a maximum two hours. The first Wimbledon final that went to five sets, in 1887 between Herbert Lawford and Ernest Renshaw, lasted 120 minutes. More than 50 years later, the 1949 final between Ted Schroeder and Jaroslav Drobný lasted 100 minutes. That's only 15 minutes longer than just the second set of the 2023 final between Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. A glance at five-set Wimbledon finals from the first half of the 20th century shows matches between 95 and 135 minutes. Advertisement Match lengths have steadily increased since, and the rate of rise has steepened since the turn of this century. As of June 2023, they had become 25 percent longer on average since 1999. Three-hour matches, previously the marker of something epic, had become close to the average. This is due to a complex combination of surface and equipment changes, advances in fitness and changes in dominant gamestyles, but the net result is more long matches, more often. The increased length and physicality has a knock-on effect through tournaments. Players that come through a five-setter at a Grand Slam may be wiped out for their next match, or by the start of the second week, if they've had a few long ones. At the Australian Open in January, a number of fourth-round matches included either blowouts or mid-match retirements from players who had burned themselves out physically in the first week. Jack Draper withdrew at the end of the second set against Alcaraz having played five-setters in all three of his previous matches. With Grand Slams drawn such that high-seeded players like Draper are drawn to face weaker opponents early on, there are some who like this karmic aspect of the best-of-five format: mess around against an overmatched opponent and pay for it down the line. But density and depth of quality on the ATP Tour has grown in line with match lengths to the point that sometimes, players just get dragged into a war of attrition that leaves one player losing and the other scoring a pyrrhic victory. The longer format also drastically reduces the number of viable champions. Very few players can consistently withstand the demands of best-of-five tennis against the best in the world; upsets are less likely because the better player has more time to work things out. All of which raises questions about who the formats are there to serve. For fans, the tension is between how much intrigue is generated by the best matches and how dull the worst can be. Matches like Sinner vs. Alcaraz catapult tennis into the wider sporting consciousness; when a less interesting match is tied at one-set all after two hours, its conclusion can feel so far away that changing channel is an entirely reasonable response. Advertisement Then there's the question of the players, who generally like best of five because it's seen as the ultimate test and one that will typically lead to the best player winning. It's a lot harder to sneak a best-of-five win than a best-of-three one. One would be for the Grand Slams to have a hybrid system: best of three for the first three or four rounds; best of five for the last three or four rounds. The biggest matches could go long, but without so much accumulated fatigue from earlier in the tournament, and the early-round grinds would be eliminated. The switch from shorter to longer matches mid-tournament could be problematic for the players physically, but they already make have to make that adjustment for majors, with all other tour events played to three sets. This hybrid format could also be used in the women's events, creating equality and taking away situations like at the French Open, where men are given the prime scheduling slots because, according to tournament organizers, they are longer and therefore offer fans better value for money. WTA players are generally not enthused by the idea of playing five sets, however. There is precedent — between 1984 and 1998, the final of the year-ending WTA Finals was best of five. All of this remains theoretical, because the slams have never shown any inclination to tweak the best-of-five format. They post record attendances and revenues, and longer matches generally means people in the grounds for longer with more scope to spend more of their money. And while the Sinner vs. Alcaraz final is proof of the majesty of tennis' most gladiatorial format, it's important to remember that matches of that level are the exception rather than the norm.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz: How to watch the 2025 men's French Open final today
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability are subject to change. No. 1 Jannik Sinner will face defending French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the 2025 men's French Open final. This is Alcaraz's second straight year reaching the French Open final. He's faced Sinner 11 times and won seven of those matches. Sinner most recently took home the trophy at the 2025 Australian Open. The men's French Open final is this Sunday, June 8, at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT. In the U.S., the men's final will air on TNT, truTV and stream live on Max. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch Sinner vs. Alcaraz. How to watch Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 French Open Final: Dates: Sunday, June 8 Advertisement Time: 9 a.m. ET (estimated start time) Location: Stade Roland-Garros TV channel: TNT, truTV Streaming: HBO Max Jannik Sinner vs. Carlos Alcaraz final start time: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the men's final at the French Open on Sunday, June 8, at approximately 9 a.m. ET. 2025 French Open channel: The Sinner vs. Alcaraz final match will air across TNT and truTV — and stream live on HBO Max. How to watch the French Open without cable: Disney Best bundle with French Open coverage Max, Disney+ and Hulu bundle (ad-free) The Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle gets you exactly what it sounds like: access to Disney+, Hulu and Max. If you go ad-free ($29.99/month) you'll save up to 38% off compared to individually paying for all three services — and gain access to the French Open final matches. If you don't already have access to these platforms, this is a great option that really covers your bases, streaming-wise. You'll get access to three vast libraries, fully stocked with everything MCU, all those Disney princesses (new and old), Hulu's robust catalog of shows on-demand the day after they air, including the latest episodes of Abbott Elementary, Grey's Anatomy and more, and the most recent seasons of The Last of Us, The Pitt and The White Lotus. $29.99/month at Disney How to watch the French Open with a VPN: If you want to catch every match of the French Open and don't currently subscribe to HBO Max or a live TV streaming service, in Australia a majority of the action is streaming free with ads on 9Now, and in Austria it's all streaming free with ads on ServusTV. Advertisement Don't live in either of those places? Don't worry, you can still stream like you do with the help of a VPN. A VPN (virtual private network) helps protect your data, can mask your IP address and is perhaps most popular for being especially useful in the age of streaming. Whether you're looking to watch Friends on Netflix (which left the U.S. version of the streamer back in 2019) or tune in to the next F1 race without a cable package, a VPN can help you out. Looking to try a VPN for the first time? This guide breaks down the best VPN options for every kind of user. Stream French Open coverage ExpressVPN ExpressVPN offers 'internet without borders,' meaning you can tune into an Austrian or Australian livestream this month as opposed to paying for another streaming subscription. All you'll need to do is sign up for ExpressVPN, change your server location and then find free livestream coverage on 9Now or ServusTV. ExpressVPN's added protection, speed and range of location options make it an excellent choice for first-time VPN users looking to stretch their streaming abilities, plus it's Engadget's top pick for the best streaming VPN. New users can save 61% when they sign up for ExpressVPN's 2-year subscription. Plus, the service offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, in case you're nervous about trying a VPN. From $4.99/month at ExpressVPN 2025 French Open schedule: June 7: Women's final Advertisement June 8: Men's final French Open 2025 men's seeds: Jannik Sinner Carlos Alcaraz Alexander Zverev Taylor Fritz Jack Draper Novak Djokovic Casper Ruud Lorenzo Musetti Alex de Minaur Holger Rune Daniil Medvedev Tommy Paul Ben Shelton Arthur Fils Frances Tiafoe Grigor Dimitrov Andrey Rublev Francisco Cerúndolo Jakub Menšík Stefanos Tsitsipas Tomáš Macháč Ugo Humbert Sebastian Korda Karen Khachanov Alexei Popyrin Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Denis Shapovalov Brandon Nakashima Félix Auger-Aliassime Hubert Hurkacz Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard Alex Michelsen French Open 2025 women's seeds: Aryna Sabalenka Coco Gauff Jessica Pegula Jasmine Paolini Iga Świątek Mirra Andreeva Madison Keys Zheng Qinwen Emma Navarro Paula Badosa Diana Shnaider Elena Rybakina Elina Svitolina Karolína Muchová Barbora Krejčíková Amanda Anisimova Daria Kasatkina Donna Vekić Liudmila Samsonova Ekaterina Alexandrova Jeļena Ostapenko Clara Tauson Beatriz Haddad Maia Elise Mertens Magdalena Fręch Marta Kostyuk Leylah Fernandez Peyton Stearns Linda Nosková Anna Kalinskaya Sofia Kenin Yulia Putintseva More ways to watch the 2025 French Open:
The Guardian
07-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Rivalry gathers momentum as Alcaraz and Sinner contest first major final
Towards the final stretch of the big three's unprecedented period of dominance of the ATP tour, as it became clear that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic would all sequentially vacate their thrones, the future of men's tennis was clouded in uncertainty. Although there was a talented, competitive generation of players born in the 1990s waiting to take their place, the gulf in quality between them was significant. For a short time, it seemed like the men's side of the draw could open up and provide opportunities for any top player brave enough to take them. The past fortnight in Paris has again underlined how Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have emphatically shut the door on this prospect. As they prepare to face each other in a grand slam final for the first time in their careers at Roland Garros on Sunday, it will mark the sixth consecutive grand slam that has been won by either Sinner, the world No 1, and the world No 2 Alcaraz. From the start of the tournament, it felt inevitable that they would face each other in the championship match. Their first grand slam final also represents the first major final between two players born in the 2000s. Dominic Thiem's victory over Alexander Zverev in the 2020 US Open final remains the only final between two players born in the 1990s. Six years ago, in his first ATP challenger tournament and third professional outing overall, a 15-year-old Alcaraz was drawn against Sinner at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy in Villena, Spain, his training base. The pair had both received wildcards, with Alcaraz completely unranked and a 17-year-old Sinner holding a modest ranking of No 319. Alcaraz won in three sets. Since then, every meeting has only further heightened the anticipation that this would soon be the most important rivalry in the men's game. By the time they were battling at almost 3am in their 2022 US Open quarter-final, an instant classic won in five sets by Alcaraz en route to his first grand slam title, this moment felt inevitable. 'He's a player who makes me a better player,' said Sinner on Friday. 'He pushes me to the limit. We try to understand where we have to improve for the next time I play against him.' Although he needed more time to iron out his early mental deficiencies, Sinner has established a remarkable level of consistency since he found his path at the end of 2023. Sinner's record is 47-2 since last August, winning the last two grand slam titles at the US Open and Australian Open, and the vast majority of those matches have not even been close. His three-month doping ban between February and May has done little to halt his momentum and form. Six matches into the event, Sinner has undoubtedly been the player of the tournament, tearing through his opponents without dropping a set. Both players have many years to build their résumés, but as he seeks out his first grand slam title away from hard courts, Sinner will also be attempting to win his fourth major title, which would draw him level with Alcaraz. Those two defeats suffered by Sinner, however, came at the hands of Alcaraz, who won their gripping three-set final in the Beijing Open last year and then recently outplayed Sinner in Rome, Sinner's comeback tournament from his doping ban. In contrast to the composed consistency established by Sinner, Alcaraz can be wild and unpredictable. Just as his varied, complete game has taken him to greater heights than Sinner, the lows have similarly been far more desolate. 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 Sinner is one of the purest, most destructive shotmakers on the tour and he robs time from all challengers with his depth, pace and devastating weight of shot. During the early stages of their rivalry, Alcaraz attempted to match the Italian's firepower with his own heavy weaponry but he now understands that his edge in this match-up is the variety he has at his fingertips. Sinner thrives on rhythm and pace, but Alcaraz has spent the past few meetings employing the full toolbox of shots to disrupt the Italian at all costs. There are ample reasons for Alcaraz to be hopeful about his prospects on Sunday, even as the Italian continues to destroy the rest of the field. Alcaraz has now won their last four meetings, establishing a 7-4 lead in their overall head-to-head, and in a year that has already seen him win in Monte Carlo and Rome, red clay remains the Spaniard's dominant surface. However, in these battles between two generational talents, the only certainty is that every time they enter the court against their greatest rival, the most difficult match of their career awaits.
New York Times
07-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and the French Open final that neither player will lose
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Back when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were dominating men's tennis, a pattern developed. The more the Big Three played each other, the better they all became. Across 150 matches, they played, they improved, and they played again, all at a level that everyone else in men's tennis could not access. Advertisement A virtuous cycle for them; a doom loop for everybody else. Something similar is happening in men's tennis again, and the protagonists are Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Their level is already too high for everybody else, but put them on the same court and things go stratospheric. With two of the Big Three retired, and one of them, Djokovic, recognizing that his last matches are coming sooner than later, Sinner and Alcaraz have closed off an era of Grand Slam tennis that was supposed to be open. They have won the last five Grand Slams between them. Sinner took three of them, Alcaraz two. After Sunday's French Open final, that recent tally will either be 3-3, or 4-2 in Sinner's favour. These two have never met before in a major final, but everything suggests that it will become a regular occurrence. Sinner had to be at his computer-game-character best to beat a resurgent Djokovic in the semifinals Friday, but the men's draw has felt like one big prelude to the meeting of a new Big Two. It's had shades of Wimbledon in 2008, when Federer and Nadal lost one set between them en route to a final that has gone down in tennis history. In this context, this match feels like a paradox: a Grand Slam final that neither player can lose. When it's over, there will be a champion and a runner-up, but in the bigger picture, this is just another piece in an overwhelming dossier of evidence that Sinner and Alcaraz take each other to heights that are far too high for their competitors over five sets. They have already become a pack like the Big Three used to be: even if a contender gets past one, they almost certainly won't get past both. Beating Alcaraz took so much out of Djokovic at the Australian Open in January that he couldn't finish his semifinal before a possible final against Sinner; Daniil Medvedev beat Sinner in five sets at Wimbledon last year, but his quarterfinal win just softened him up for Alcaraz a couple of days later. This tennis rivalry is symbiotic, but it appears that Alcaraz needs Sinner more than the other way around. Sinner is so hyper-focused that the motivation of winning the next point seems to be enough for him, even if he did credit Alcaraz with making him more 'unpredictable' after beating Djokovic. Alcaraz is wired a little differently, so sure that matches are in his control that he can easily lose focus, but just as easily bring it back when he needs it. 'Sometimes we just think about myself. Sometimes we think about how I lost the set in the match, and we don't think about how he won the set. So that's the difference,' he said after wearing down Lorenzo Musetti in his semifinal. Advertisement His focus does not wane against Sinner, who he actively enjoys playing against. Like meeting the only other person who likes the same music, or a fellow lover of obscure film, Alcaraz appreciates being around his only real equal. 'My favorite thing is it gives me the feedback of how I can be better, a better player,' Alcaraz said. 'That's important, and that's beautiful, and if I win or not, it gives you a lot of stats and gives you the feedback.' No one can do the things that Alcaraz does apart from Sinner, and their matches make him come alive. He has won their last four meetings, a level of consistency that elsewhere can be elusive. While Sinner was serving a three-month anti-doping ban, Alcaraz looked a little lost. He bombed out of a few tournaments in a Sinner-less world, losing to Jiří Lehečka in Doha and David Goffin in Miami along the way. It wasn't until getting on the clay in Monte Carlo that he found his feet. Alcaraz wouldn't be the first to need a rival to reach their best level. John McEnroe was similarly bereft when his great adversary Bjorn Borg retired in the 1980s. Federer has admitted that he didn't especially want a rival when Nadal emerged, but he came to understand how the Spaniard lifted him to even greater heights. 'They elevate you because you have to play better,' Martina Navratilova said during a recent interview, reflecting in part on her epic 80-match rivalry with Chris Evert. 'You have to be close to your best to beat the other one. Because they're not going to give it to you. In tennis, you can only play great if the other player forces you to play great, because you can only hit great shots if they force you to hit great shots.' Alcaraz and Sinner can hit great shots against everyone, but it's against each other that they achieve greatness, taking each other to levels so high that their good is more than enough to get it done against the rest of the tour's best. Against Musetti, the No. 8 seed and second-most consistent clay-court player this year, Alcaraz meandered his way through the first two sets but still comfortably won the match. Musetti was forced to retire in the fourth set, having previously won one game in the final two sets of their Monte Carlo Masters final two months ago, when the Italian also faded physically. Advertisement 'I knew it even before stepping on court that I had to play probably the best match of my career so far (to win),' Musetti said of Friday's encounter. For Sinner, the comfort he feels against everyone else is even more pronounced. He has lost eight matches since the start of last year: four to Alcaraz and four to everybody else. Before meeting Djokovic in Friday's semifinal, Sinner's longest match at this year's French Open had lasted two hours, 15 minutes. It took Lehečka 55 minutes to even win a game against him, while it was 27 minutes for Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik. These are all current or recent top-25 players. But compared to Alcaraz, everyone bar Djokovic seems to feel like a breeze to him. Casper Ruud, a three-time major finalist, lost 6-0, 6-1 to Sinner at the Italian Open last month. It took Ruud 47 minutes to win a game, and he said in a news conference afterwards that: 'It was like playing a wall that shoots hundred-mile-an-hour balls at you all the time.' Against Alcaraz, those hundred-mile-an-hour balls come back with interest. Former leading women's players Kim Clijsters and Daniela Hantuchova spoke in interviews this week about working on improving elements of their game to live with certain opponents, and Sinner echoed this after reaching Sunday's final. 'From my point of view, he's a player who makes me a better player,' Sinner said in his news conference. 'He pushes me to the limit. We try to understand where we have to improve, for the next times I play against him.' There's nothing more helpful for Sinner and Alcaraz than playing against each other. So while only one man can win on Sunday, the rest of the ATP Tour will be the real losers.
The Independent
07-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
The Carlos Alcaraz problem Jannik Sinner faces in mouthwatering French Open final
In the early days of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz 's electric rivalry, as the two young men established themselves as the best players in the world, a prominent theme of their matches was the spectacular, highlight-reel points that would light up social media feeds in an instant. During the Indian Wells semi-final in 2024, after Sinner and Alcaraz chased down drop shots and angled volleys to shrieks from the crowd, the young rivals turned to each other and laughed across the net, sharing not only their disbelief but also the joy of pushing themselves to new heights. As Sinner and Alcaraz now prepare to battle for the French Open title, in their first grand slam final, it is clear that their rivalry has evolved into a generational one. While both players will hope to enjoy the moment of facing each other for one of the sport's biggest prizes, there is also now much more at stake. On Sunday, Alcaraz, 22, will bid for his second consecutive Roland Garros title and fifth grand slam. Sinner, 23, has the chance to win a third consecutive major, as well as fourth overall and first outside of the hard-court tournaments. It will also be the first grand slam final played between two men born in the 2000s, as Novak Djokovic, who was beaten in straight-sets by the World No 1 Sinner in Friday's semi-final, left the stage for the young rivals to fill. 'Definitely great for tennis, both of them,' Djokovic said. 'I think their rivalry is something that our sport needs, no doubt. I'm sure that we're going to see them lifting the big trophies quite often.' Over the past 18 months, Sinner has dominated the men's ATP Tour while rising to an undisputed World No 1. He has made the French Open final in just his second tournament since returning from a three-month doping suspension without dropping a set and showed immense mental strength to close out his victory over Djokovic, denying the 38-year-old and the crowd to close out a gripping semi-final in over three hours. 'He showed why he's No 1 in the world,' Djokovic said. 'He's the best player right now,' Alcaraz said. 'He's destroying every opponent.' Sinner - who will bid to become the first Italian Roland Garros champion since Adriano Panatta in 1976 - has won 20 consecutive grand slam matches, through his US Open and Australian Open title wins, and will aim to become just the fourth man, after Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, to win three grand slam titles in a row this century. Sinner also became the first player in history to record four consecutive victories over Djokovic, the greatest of all time. But Sinner has a problem in the French Open final, and that is Alcaraz. He has lost his last four matches in a row to the Spaniard, including his last two grand slam matches against him - both of which went to five sets. Additionally, while Sinner has gone 47-0 against the rest of the world since August, he is 0-2 against Alcaraz, who is starting to make a habit of snapping Sinner's winning streaks. His last victory over Sinner, in last month's Rome final, ended a run of 26 consecutive victories. So what makes Alcaraz so different to everyone else? While Alcaraz has played an extremely consistent clay-court season, establishing a 21-1 record while winning titles in Monte Carlo, Rome and reaching the Roland Garros final, the Spaniard lacked the consistency Sinner has shown while the No 1 was serving his doping suspension. Alcaraz was in disarray and looked lost without Sinner to play against. The presence of Sinner, on tour and across the net, raises Alcaraz's level. 'If I don't play at my best, 10 out of 10, it's going to be impossible to beat him,' Alcaraz said after his straight-sets win over Sinner in the Rome final. 'That's why I'm more focused when I'm playing against him, or I feel a little bit different when I'm going to face him than other players. He has that aura. When you're seeing him at the other side of the net, it's kind of different.' So far in their rivalry, Alcaraz's peak, or his 10 out of 10, has been higher than Sinner's, who has the higher floor. That can be the difference in the tightest matches when they go the distance. At the same time, Sinner admitted to feeling a certain pressure against Alcaraz. 'It's fun and not fun,' he smiled. 'The tension you feel before the match and during the match is a little bit different, in a way. We are both very young, we are both different, but talented.' Sinner, for example, is yet to show any signs of nerves in any of his three grand slam finals: coming from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in the 2024 Australian Open final before easing to victories over Taylor Fritz at the 2024 US Open and Alexander Zverev in defending his Australian Open crown earlier this year. But the Italian suffered from cramps when he played Alcaraz in a five-set French Open semi-final defeat last year, and has struggled when the Spaniard has pushed him over the distance. Like the best champions, Sinner has displayed a tendency to learn from tough moments and come back stronger. 'He's a player who makes me a better player,' Sinner said of Alcaraz. 'He pushes me to the limit. We try to understand where we have to improve for the next time I play against him.' Sinner has already displayed progress on the red dirt, progressing to his first major final on the surface, where he will face a true natural clay-court player in Alcaraz. Sinner and Alcaraz are yet to lose a grand slam final, amassing a 7-0 record between them, and are guaranteed to make it six grand slam titles in a row on Sunday. As the French Open brought the end of the Big Three, as Nadal waved farewell to Roland Garros and Djokovic hinted that he may soon do the same, a new era is well underway, though any comparisons remain premature. Djokovic laughed at the suggestion. 'They need to play against each for at least 10-plus years nonstop in order to be part of the same discussion,' he said. But on Sunday a rivalry will take its next step and both Sinner and Alcaraz will face their toughest test yet.
