The takeaways from Carlos Alcaraz’s fifth-set tiebreaker victory over Jannik Sinner in the riveting and record-breaking French Open men’s final were multiple and significant.
Let’s start with this: Anyone worried about how men’s tennis would survive in the post-Big Three era can rest easy. Alcaraz and Sinner produced 5 1/2 hours of evidence Sunday that the game is in good hands — and that their rivalry will be, and perhaps already is, a transcendent one.
Take it from no less an authority than Roger Federer. The retired owner of 20 Grand Slam titles, and rival of Rafael Nadal (22 majors) and Novak Djokovic (24), began a post on social media by declaring, “3 winners in Paris today,” then listed Alcaraz, Sinner and “the beautiful game of tennis. What a match!”
No. 1 Sinner and No. 2 Alcaraz could renew their rivalry at Wimbledon
This was the 12th Alcaraz-Sinner meeting, the first in a major final.
“Hopefully not the last time,” Alcaraz said. “Every time that we face … each other, we raise our level to the top.”
It would be shocking if there weren’t many more of these to come — perhaps as soon as at Wimbledon, where play begins on June 30 and No. 2-ranked Alcaraz is the two-time defending champion.
His comeback against No. 1 Sinner from two sets down, then three championship points down, to win 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) was unprecedented at Roland-Garros. It was unforgettable. Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, described his guy’s best trait this way: “His strength is (to) keep believing all the time, until the last ball is gone.”
Carlos Alcaraz has five Grand Slam titles at age 22
Alcaraz’s five Grand Slam titles at 22 — that’s the age at which Nadal, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras also got to five; no one’s done it younger — show how special he is. So does the Spaniard’s 5-0 record in major finals, a career start surpassed among men only by Federer’s 7-0.
Sinner is pretty good, too. Tuesday marks a full year that he has been ranked No. 1. He has reached the finals of his last eight tournaments, a run last accomplished by Djokovic a decade ago. He has won three majors. He has won 47 of his last 50 matches.
Notably, all three of those losses came against — yes, you guessed it — Alcaraz. That hearkens back to the days when Federer would beat everyone other than Nadal.
Sinner had claimed 31 Slam sets in a row right up until the moment he was up 2-0 against Alcaraz.
What was unmistakable to anyone watching in-person at Court Philippe-Chatrier or following along from afar on TV is that Alcaraz vs. Sinner is a must-see.
“The level,” Alcaraz said, “was insane.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have won the last 6 Grand Slam titles
Sinner’s take?
“I’m happy to be part of this,” the 23-year-old Italian said. “Would be even more happy if I would have … the big trophy.”
As with any great rivalry — think Evert vs. Navratilova or Borg vs. McEnroe or Federer vs. Nadal, no first names needed — Alcaraz vs. Sinner provides a clash of excellence and a study in contrasts.
Alcaraz displays emotion, pumping his fists, pointing to an ear to ask for more noise, yelling “Vamos!” Sinner is rather contained. Sinner’s long limbs get him to nearly every ball. Alcaraz’s motor reaches speeds no one can equal. Sinner’s ball-striking is pure. Alcaraz’s drop shots are legendary. Both hammer groundstrokes that leave opponents exasperated and spectators gasping.
Both can improve. Sinner has never won a match that lasted four hours. Alcaraz loses focus on occasion.
Both are eager to improve. When Sinner returned from a three-month doping ban last month, he introduced a new, angled return stance. Alcaraz tweaked his serve and backhand technique.
Who knows what heights each can reach? They split the past six Slam trophies, and eight of the past 11.
Roger Federer predicted big champions would come along again
Federer saw this coming.
During an interview with The Associated Press in December 2019, Federer predicted someone would win major after major the way he, Nadal and Djokovic did. Just didn’t know there would be a Big Two doing it.
“It’s going to happen, inevitably,” Federer said. “And it’s almost not going to be that hard, maybe … because the players will have seen what we did. And they didn’t see just one guy doing it, once every 30 years. They saw like three guys doing it, in the shortest period of time. … Players are going to believe more.”
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AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
