PARIS : Carlos Alcaraz fought back from the brink to outlast top seed Jannik Sinner 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(10-2) in a French Open final for the ages on Sunday to retain his crown and cement his status as the Prince of Clay in Roland Garros’ post-Rafa Nadal era.
In a scintillating showdown between the torch-bearers of a new generation, the 22-year-old Alcaraz saved three match points in the fourth set to continue his dominance over Sinner with a fifth successive win and end the Italian’s 20-match winning streak at the majors.
The duo, who have captured seven of the last eight Grand Slams to stamp their authority on the tour, were locked in a fierce battle in the first major final between two men born in the 2000s.
Alcaraz showed his steely determination to win the epic in five hours and 29 minutes – the longest ever final at Roland Garros.
Sinner held serve in a tense five-deuce opening game lasting 12 minutes, but was broken when he fired a forehand wide, before hitting back from 2-3 and going on to snatch an intense first set following an unforced error by Alcaraz.
Relentless pressure from the baseline allowed Sinner to go a break up early in the second set and the top seed began to apply the squeeze on Alcaraz, who was on the ropes trailing 1-4 on a sunbathed Court Philippe Chatrier.
An aggressive Alcaraz came out fighting and drew loud cheers when he drew level after 10 games and then forced a tiebreak but Sinner edged ahead with a blistering forehand winner and doubled his lead after the clock ticked past two hours.
Alcaraz, who had never come back from two sets down, battled hard in the hope of avoiding his first loss in a major final and pulled a set back before bravely saving three match points at 3-5 down in the fourth set, later restoring parity via the tiebreak.
He traded breaks in the decider but prevailed in the super tiebreak to win the longest Paris men’s final since tennis went professional in 1968 while Sinner had to digest a missed chance to add to his U.S. and Australian Open wins after a doping case.
