Carlos Alcaraz moves to 5-0 in Grand Slam final.
Two weeks after Rafael Nadal walked onto Court Philippe-Chatrier for his farewell tribute, Carlos Alcaraz warmed Spanish hearts as the logical successor to Nadal. Alcaraz stared down the barrel at two sets down and trailing Jannik Sinner 5-3, 40-0 in the fourth set.
Staring at certain defeat, the World No. 2 fought off three match points and scripted the mother of all comebacks to win 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2).
The marathon five-setter caught the attention of none other than Rafael Nadal, who congratulated both the victor and the vanquished via his official X (Twitter) account. “What an incredible end to Roland Garros!” Congratulations, Carlos Alcaraz. Congrats also to Jannik Sinner for the great battle,” these are the words of the 14-time French Open champion.
Nadal should know a thing or two about comebacks. He defeated Roger Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final to deny the Swiss great a third consecutive SW19 title. In doing so, Nadal avoided a third consecutive loss to Federer in the final of the grass-court major. It was his first Wimbledon title that materialised after a lengthy five-set battle, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7.
Jannik Sinner came with a hair’s breadth of winning his maiden French Open title. Had he succeeded, he would have become the first Italian since Adriano Panatta in 1976 to claim the singles title in Paris.
Instead, Alcaraz achieved the impossible, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and, along with it, the Coupe des Mosquetaires for the second successive time. Their long-awaited and first-ever Grand Slam final lived up to the hype as Alcaraz pulled off a Houdini act in the longest-ever Roland Garros final that clocked five and a half hours.
Carlos Alcaraz has joined a very exclusive list that so far has only one member – Roger Federer. Alcaraz became just the second man in the Open Era to win his first five Grand Slam finals in a row, following in Federer’s footsteps, who won his first seven.
The Spanish royal family had their message for Carlos Alcaraz. King Felipe VI’s official X account had this to say. “Philippe-Chatrier surrenders to you again, Carlos Alcaraz. What a historic finale you’ve given us!”
Chris Evert, a seven-time Roland Garros women’s singles champion, too, joined the conversation. “Give the trophy to both of them,” she declared on X.
It was history repeating itself as Alcaraz joined Coco Gauff as the winner of the French Open. The duo had won the China Open in tandem last season and now Roland Garros. The American chipped in with her message for the Spaniard. “We had to run Beijing back for the one time! Congratulations, Carlos Alcaraz, on an incredible win! You are amazing!”
After the five-hour slugfest, the Spaniard joined Gustavo Kuerten and Rafael Nadal as just the third man this century to successfully defend the Roland Garros crown. Until now, Alcaraz had never come back from a two-set deficit in his career. On Sunday, he proved that there is a first time for everything.
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