Paris final becomes legendary as Alcaraz claims victory
Carlos Alcaraz saved three match points to defeat Jannik Sinner in a five-hour thriller (6-7(4), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2)) in one of the greatest matches in tennis history
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Roland-Garros 2025 | © Michtof / Psnewz
The first Grand Slam final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz didn’t just live up to expectations—it delivered a match for the ages. In the longest final in Roland-Garros history (five hours and 30 minutes), Alcaraz successfully defended his title after a breathtaking rollercoaster that will be remembered as one of the greatest Grand Slam showdowns ever (6-7(4), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2)).
At 5-3, 0-40 in the fourth set, with three championship points on Alcaraz’s serve, Sinner seemed poised to claim a third consecutive major. At that moment, the Spaniard’s chances of lifting his fifth Grand Slam trophy looked as thin as a speck of red clay.
But capitalising on three unforced errors from the Italian—including one off a timid forehand sitter—Alcaraz, through his extraordinary defence and relentless pressure, flipped the match on its head. What looked like Sinner’s coronation turned into a completely different contest, elevated by Alcaraz’s uncanny ability to hit shots no one else would dare attempt—let alone land.
Alcaraz changed the mood of the final
At five-all in the fifth set after five hours and five minutes, and again at six-all after five hours and 20 minutes—with both players competing at their absolute peak and the outcome hanging perfectly in the balance—it became painfully clear: tennis is among the cruellest sports for the brave. All the glory would fall to one. The other would be left with heartbreak—regardless of how much he deserved.
This is the first time since the 2019 Wimbledon final that a Grand Slam champion has saved match points in the final to claim the title—back then, Novak Djokovic saved two against Roger Federer. It’s also the first time since Roland-Garros 2004 that a major final slipped away from a player who held three championship points, when Gastón Gaudio stunned Guillermo Coria.
And already, the debate begins: where does this match rank among the all-time greats? Wimbledon 1980, Borg–McEnroe. Wimbledon 2008, Nadal–Federer. The 2012 Australian Open, Djokovic–Nadal. Wimbledon 2019, Djokovic–Federer. There will be time to settle that question. But none of those featured a match point quite as surreal as the one that decided Alcaraz v Sinner—a running forehand lasered into the top corner, perfectly encapsulating the jaw-dropping brilliance of the final exchanges.
five Slams for Alcaraz
With his triumph in Paris, Carlos Alcaraz now owns five Grand Slam titles—US Open 2022, Wimbledon 2023 and 2024, and Roland-Garros in 2024 and 2025. The win also marked his fifth straight victory over Jannik Sinner, who nevertheless remains firmly at the top of the world rankings. The Italian hasn’t beaten Alcaraz since Beijing in the fall of 2023—and in the past 10 months, he hasn’t lost to anyone else. Just Alcaraz, three times.
What turns a match like this? Sinner’s team will undoubtedly relive those three match points over and over, searching for confirmation of what they already know: at the highest level, the difference lies in finding that fragile equilibrium between aggression and control. And on those three critical points, Sinner never quite found it.
There are also questions about Sinner’s physical and emotional endurance in matches of this magnitude. Though he helped push this final to an extraordinary level deep into its fifth hour, signs of physical tightness emerged after just two and a half hours. Since the 2022 US Open, he’s won only one five-set match—the 2024 Australian Open final against a drained Daniil Medvedev. He’s lost the other six that went the distance.
Ultimately, matches like these are decided by something even more elusive than form or fitness: that intangible, magnetic refusal to lose. Both players showed it. A desperate sprint, a drop shot scraped off the clay, a cartoonish winner from an impossible angle—this Roland-Garros final turned on moments too numerous to list, many of them already on endless replay across social media.
The tie-break: Alcaraz 10-2 Sinner
In the end, Sinner lost this duel to a titan of such moments. At 6-5 in the fifth and 30-30 on Alcaraz’s serve, he came within two points of victory, seizing the initiative with more conviction than he had on his earlier match points. He seemed destined for another opportunity. But once again, Alcaraz held firm—just as he had all night—and delivered what might have been the final psychological blow by drawing level at 6-all.
That the final tiebreak unfolded one-sidedly (7-0, then 10-2) in Alcaraz’s favour almost felt like a formality—a final turn of fate after the storm. It was the first Grand Slam final between two players born in the 2000s. Between them, they’ve now split the last six major titles. Tennis could hardly be in better hands.
