Defending Champion Saves THREE Championship Points After Being Two Sets Down in Longest Final in Roland Garros History
Carlos Alcaraz produced one of the most remarkable comebacks in tennis history to defeat Jannik Sinner in an epic French Open men’s singles final that lasted five hours and 29 minutes, the longest in the tournament’s history.
The defending champion appeared destined for defeat when trailing by two sets and facing championship points against the world No 1, but somehow conjured an extraordinary recovery to triumph 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) in what will go down as one of the greatest matches ever played.
FROM THE BRINK OF DEFEAT
In a final that had everything – drama, controversy, exhaustion and brilliance – the 22-year-old Spaniard became the first player in French Open history to save championship points and go on to win, doing so when Sinner led 5-3, 40-0 in the fourth set.
The match is not finished until he wins the last point,” Alcaraz said afterwards. I just wanted to be one of those players who saved match point in the Grand Slam final and ended up winning. I just believed all the time. I never doubted myself, even in those match points down.”
The victory was Alcaraz’s first-ever comeback from two sets down in his career and marked his fifth consecutive victory over the Italian, who was left shell-shocked by the stunning turnaround.
SINNER’S NIGHTMARE
I don’t think I will sleep very well tonight,” a devastated Sinner admitted at the trophy presentation. “Happy about the tournament still, but obviously this one hurts. Today I had chances. I was break up in the third. Was break up in the fourth.”
The world No 1 had appeared in complete control for two and a half sets, not having dropped a single set in the entire tournament until Alcaraz finally broke through in the third. His 32-set winning streak at Grand Slams – just four short of Roger Federer’s record – came to a crushing end.
RECORD-BREAKING DRAMA
The marathon encounter shattered multiple records:
- At 5 hours and 29 minutes, it became the longest French Open final in history
- It was the second-longest men’s Grand Slam final ever
- Alcaraz became just the sixth player ever to win a French Open final from two sets down
- It marked the first time in Roland Garros history that a men’s final was decided by a fifth-set tiebreak
CELEBRITY AUDIENCE STUNNED
A star-studded crowd at Court Philippe-Chatrier, including actor Dustin Hoffman and film director Spike Lee, witnessed history unfold as Alcaraz somehow found another gear when facing elimination.
The Spaniard’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero, admitted even he couldn’t believe what he was watching: “I’m not going to say that I was believing that he was able to recover from that 5-3, love-40. But one more time with Carlos, everything is possible, and he did it again. Amazing achievement.”
THE TURNING POINT
Having lost the first two sets and been broken early in the third, Alcaraz looked dead and buried. But roared on by the partisan crowd, he broke back twice to take the third set 6-4, giving himself a lifeline.
The pivotal moment came with Sinner serving at 5-3, 40-0 in the fourth set – three championship points for his first French Open title. What followed was extraordinary, as Alcaraz saved all three and eventually forced a tiebreak, which he won convincingly.
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WARFARE
As the match wore on past four hours, the physical toll became evident. Sinner, who hadn’t played more than three sets since January’s Australian Open, began to limp slightly after charging for a short ball in the fifth set.
Alcaraz, famous for his marathon victories with a 13-1 record in five-setters, sensed his opportunity and unleashed a series of devastating drop shots that left the exhausted Italian scrambling.
GRINNING TO GLORY
By the time the decisive fifth-set tiebreak arrived, Alcaraz was grinning from ear to ear, sensing his moment had come. He raced to a 9-2 lead before completing “the comeback of all comebacks” with a swerving forehand winner down the line.
The Spaniard collapsed to the clay, digging deep into the red dirt to savour a victory that seemed impossible just two hours earlier.
HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT
At just 22, Alcaraz has now won five Grand Slam titles, becoming the third-youngest man to reach that milestone behind only Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal – fitting company for a player who has just produced one of the sport’s greatest ever performances.
“Honestly I don’t know what I did,” a bewildered Alcaraz said on TNT afterwards. “I don’t know what happened.”
NEW RIVALRY DELIVERS
This was the first Grand Slam final between Alcaraz and Sinner, who have been billed as tennis’s next great rivalry. If this epic encounter is anything to go by, the sport is in exceptional hands for the next decade.
It’s a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you,” Alcaraz told Sinner. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to be a champion, not once, but many many times.”
STATS TELL THE STORY
Remarkably, Sinner actually outscored Alcaraz 193 points to 192 across the entire match, but it was the Spaniard who found a way to win the points that mattered most.
The Italian’s record in matches lasting over four hours dropped to a dismal 0-7, while Alcaraz improved his fifth-set tiebreak record to an incredible 12-2.
SPORTS MOMENT OF THE YEAR
TIME magazine has already declared this “the sports moment of 2025″ and “one of the best duels in the history of tennis” – high praise that seems entirely justified after witnessing one of the most dramatic comebacks the sport has ever seen.
As both players now turn their attention to Wimbledon next month, where Alcaraz is the defending champion, one thing is certain: tennis fans have just witnessed the birth of a rivalry that will define the sport for years to come.
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