Carlos Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) on Monday morning and retain his Roland-Garros title for a second straight year.
Alcaraz, who won his fifth grand slam tournament in as many finals, produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament.
It was the first time that Sinner had lost a grand slam final.
READ MORE: ‘Best since Bradman’ steals insane 99-year-old record
READ MORE: ‘Didn’t look good’: Dogs deny rift after sheds video leaked
READ MORE: O’Callaghan’s one telling word in heartbreaking interview
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates with his team and family following his victory over Jannik Sinner. Getty
It was also the longest-ever French Open final — 5 hours, 29 minutes — in the Open Era.
After 3 hours, 43 minutes, Sinner had his first match point. But with just over five hours since the match began, Alcaraz served for the title at 5-4 up.
The drama was still not over. Sinner made a remarkable retrieve from yet another superb Alcaraz drop shot.
Re-live all the action from Roland Garros 2025 on-demand on Stan Sport, with two courts in 4K UHD.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (right) and Jannik Sinner after the final. Getty
At the very limit he could stretch to, Sinner glided the ball over the net, with the ball landing with the softness of an autumn leaf and out of Alcaraz’s reach to make it 15-40.
When Sinner won the game to make it 5-5, it was his turn to milk the applause and he was two points away from victory in the 12th game, with Alcaraz on serve and at 15-30 and at deuce.
But Alcaraz made a staggering cross-court backhand to make it 6-6 and force a tiebreaker, with the crowd going wild when Alcaraz’s cross-court winner made it 4-0.
Carlos Alcaraz kisses the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy. Getty
Sinner could not find a way back and Alcaraz won the match with a superb forehand pass down the line and then fell onto his back to celebrate.
“When the situations are against you, then you have to keep fighting. It’s a grand slam final, it’s no time to be tired, no time to give up,” Alcaraz said.
“Do I enjoy that? The real champions are made in those situations.”
In producing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament, he emulated Novak Djokovic’s feat from the 2021 final at Roland-Garros — when the now 24-time major winner fought back from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.
“Today it was all about the belief in myself,” Alcaraz said.
He became just the ninth player to rally from two sets down and win a grand slam final in the Open Era, which began in 1968. The first was Bjorn Borg in 1974 against Manuel Orantes at the French Open, where Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi achieved the same feat. Rafael Nadal also did so, at the Australian Open, and Sinner too.
Alcaraz spoke to Stan Sport immediately after the win and was asked how he conjured the incredible comeback.
“Honestly I don’t know,” he told Duncan McKenzie-McHarg for Grand Slam Daily.
“I can’t explain how I did it because honestly I don’t know.
“I think I just believed, I believed in myself all the time.
“I put my heart into it, every single energy that I had inside me I tried to fight until the last ball.
“I saw Jannik struggling physically a bit during some points, and tried to make the most of that… and it worked.”
