- Alcaraz saved three championship points before rallying to defend his crown
- The Spaniard showed extraordinary grit to prevail over a five-hour marathon
- He took the time to celebrate his success with ball kids in a heartwarming clip
Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his stunning French Open title in a heartwarming moment with Roland Garros ball kids – after struggling to express how he had done it.
‘I didn’t know what I had to do to win this match at three match points down in the fourth,’ said the No 2 seed after beating Jannik Sinner to defend his crown.
‘Being two sets to love down against the world No 1, the level Jannik was playing…
‘I just tried to keep it going, not thinking about the result, not thinking about anything, just fighting point after point. At the end of the fifth set I was playing with my heart.’
In a fitting end to a jaw-dropping, five-hour marathon on Philippe Chatrier, Alcaraz took the time to share his success with a group of ball kids.
A video posted by the official Roland Garros account on X showed the Spaniard being given a round of applause by ball kids lined up on either side of a staircase.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his French Open title with ball kids at Roland Garros
Alcaraz took the time to dish out high fives and hugs after the best display of his career
The No 2 seed defended his crown after beating Jannik Sinner in an epic five-hour marathon
He couldn’t help but smile as he made his way down and then led the youngsters in an impromptu dance session, in which he pogoed on the spot.
After one final hug, a beaming Alcaraz disappeared into the bowels of the venue.
Sinner, who led by two sets to love and then had three match points, said to Alcaraz on court: ‘Amazing performance, amazing battle, amazing everything. You deserve it.’
In the more sombre arena of a press conference room, the world No 1 reflected: ‘This one hurts. It was a very high-level match, that’s for sure. So I was happy to be part of this. But the result hurts. In every set, I tried to delete everything.
‘In Grand Slams you try to start from zero again. I was of course disappointed about the fourth set, the match points and serving for the match. But I stayed there mentally.
‘I didn’t give him any free points.’
Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach since childhood, said: ‘I think Carlos’s strength is to keep believing all the time until the last ball is gone.
‘He was 0-40 in the fourth, 5-3 down, and he looks at me and still shakes his racquet at me (in celebration), like saying: “I’m still here, vamos”.
‘I’m not going to say I believed it was possible to recover from there. But with Carlos, everything is possible.’
