Carlos Alcaraz saves three match points, tops Jannik Sinner in longest Roland Garros final of Open Era

Ahead of the 12th installment of the fast-blooming rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, there was one question still needing an answer: What would these two already-generational talents bring to the table in their first meeting in a Grand Slam final?

How did they answer it? Only with a five-hour, 29-minute war of attrition that lived up to every ounce of the hype.

From two sets down, Alcaraz authored a comeback for the history books, eventually winning the longest Roland Garros final in the Open Era, 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2). In the second-longest final at any of the four Grand Slams since 1968, he saved three championship points down 0-40 on serve and 5-3 in the fourth set and, after losing a 5-3 lead himself in the final set, roared to the finish line in the deciding 10-point tiebreak to become the eighth man to win back-to-back Roland Garros titles.

Now 5-0 in Grand Slam singles finals, Alcaraz is the third player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title after saving at least one match point in the championship match, following Gaston Gaudio at Roland Garros in 20204 and Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2019. In addition, he is the sixth man in the Open Era to come two sets down to win the Roland Garros trophy in five sets.

Though Alcaraz entered the final with a 7-4 head-to-head record against Sinner, including a straight-sets win for the Rome title last month, the top-seeded Italian led for almost all of the first three hours of Sunday's championship. Until he didn't.

An uncomplicated two-sets-and-a-break lead for Sinner was quickly erased by Alcaraz, who rode a flurry of crowd support into a run of four straight games to steal the third set: the first that Sinner lost in the entire tournament.

Then, with the world No. 1 a point away from finishing the fourth set 6-3 and taking the trophy, Alcaraz came alive again. He ripped off five straight points to hold—with Sinner left to especially rue a missed backhand return off of a second serve at 15-40.

Twelve months ago, Sinner lost his Roland Garros semifinal against Alcaraz from two-sets-to-one up, and sought to avoid that same fate in the ensuing tiebreak. Two errors off the Spaniard's racquet gave Sinner a quick lead to start, but four straight points—a clubbed forehand winner, two aces and a miss from Sinner—rapidly reversed his fortunes. His momentum continued into the deciding set, as he broke Sinner in the first game, and continued all the way through the set until he stepped to the line to serve for it at 5-4. There, it was Alcaraz's turn to blink and two crucial mistakes, coupled with exceptional hustle by Sinner to dig out a drop shot that gave him 15-40, pulled the set level.

All that, fittingly, set the stage for a winner-take-all finale, which was dominated by Alcaraz from first ball. He led 7-0 before Sinner got on the board, and five points later, a running forehand pass—his 70th winner in all—sealed a victory that nearly two hours earlier had looked almost improbable.

"Honestly when he broke my serve at the beginning of the third set, I felt like everything was to his favor," Alcaraz told reporters afterwards. "I felt like everything he is doing he was going to be in. He was going to make winner, not mistakes, hitting with the frame, going to the line.

"That was my feeling at the beginning of the third set. I tried to delete that thoughts from my mind and just keep going, try to fight all the time."

"I always repeat myself that in specific moments that I had to go for it no matter what, no matter if I was down, no matter if it was the super tiebreak of the fifth," he continued. "I just thought that it was time to go for it, not be afraid of the mistakes. I think today was all about to believe in myself. I never doubted about myself today, and I try to go for it.

"That's why I saw my best tennis in crucial moments, and that's why I saw my best tennis in those difficult situations."