PARIS – Carlos Alcaraz won his second Roland Garros title in cinematic fashion: he came back from two sets down and saved three consecutive championship points against his great rival Jannik Sinner. It was one of the best matches of all time.
It wouldn’t have been right for the first Grand Slam final between the two best players of this generation to end any other way. Alcaraz took control of a dramatic battle that lasted 5 hours and 29 minutes, eventually winning 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2)
He needed incredible strength and courage—especially down 0-40 at 3-5 in the fourth set. The Spaniard didn’t flinch, erased three match points with bold serving, and stayed alive. For much of the match, Sinner had managed to halt Alcaraz’s momentum just when the Spaniard seemed ready to surge.
At the end, both played at a supremely high level. But Alcaraz found a way to bring out his best despite the physical exhaustion.
“I never doubted myself at any point. In the past I did — I didn’t believe, I often didn’t think I had the strength to come back in matches. But I’ve learned,” he explained later to the press, with the Musketeers’ Trophy by his side.
“In the tough moments, I was able to bring out the best version of myself. That’s when the great legends show what they’re truly made of — in the low points, in the most difficult situations,” he added.
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The duel began with a 12-minute opening game on Sinner’s serve. In the fifth game—after 37 minutes—Alcaraz broke, but couldn’t consolidate. Sinner responded with brilliant tennis and broke in the tenth game to snatch the set, just as a tiebreak seemed inevitable.
In the second set, Alcaraz looked hesitant and flat. Sinner jumped to a 4-1 lead, capitalising on his rival’s errors. But the defending champion woke up, feeding off a crowd stirred by flashes of his brilliance. He broke back and pushed it to a tiebreak, where Sinner shifted gears at the right time.
At that point, hope was fading for the world No. 2. Sinner was on track to win the French Open without dropping a set—something only Ilie Nastase (1973), Bjorn Borg (1978, 1980) and Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010, 2017, 2020) had done before.
But Alcaraz’s fighting spirit kept him in the match, allowing him to take the third set. The Spaniard admitted that Rafael Nadal crossed his mind.
“I did think about Rafa. I didn’t look at the plaque, but I thought about it. I’ve seen some of his great comebacks — he’s given us those moments. That fighting spirit, that grit, that refusal to give up… that’s what I had to channel today,” he revealed later in the press room.
In the fourth, the Australian Open champion tightened under pressure. And by the fifth, Alcaraz had all the momentum—too much for the world No. 1 to recover. On the spring afternoon of June 8, 2025, the Spanish star was conducting the orchestra on Court Philippe Chatrier, with his tennis in full flow and the crowd largely behind him.
Their rivalry keeps getting tastier. Beyond the quality of tennis, the Paris final showed how the 22-year-old Spaniard and the 23-year-old Italian bring out the best in each other—and how each is now tasked with stopping the other’s record runs.
Alcaraz denied Sinner a third consecutive Grand Slam title, and prevented him from drawing level in their head-to-head tally. Instead, he lifted his fifth major and joined Open Era greats Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. He’s now just one shy of Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.
He also extended his lead in the rivalry. After this Roland Garros win, Alcaraz now leads Sinner 8–4.
