Witnessing tennis history – and the longest French Open final of all time – was both a privilege and the ultimate test of bladder endurance. But thank you, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, for the five hours and 29 minutes of astonishing athleticism, spell-binding shot-making, remarkable resilience and drama of the highest order to produce a match that will forever be in the discussion for the greatest of all time. I’m not going to pretend that I saw Bjorn Borg defeat John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final, while, on a personal level, Rafael Nadal’s epic triumph over Roger Federer and the fading light on Centre Court to win the 2008 Wimbledon final will forever be tinted by a certain nostalgia that heightens the emotions.
But one of the joys of witnessing what Alcaraz and Sinner produced on Sunday and feeling every point is that it is, retrospectively, impossible to properly summarise all the moments of magic and astonishing twists, as the two young rivals pushed themselves and their electric rivalry into another galaxy. I have a Google Doc that will forever now be enshrined with the title ‘Alcaraz and Sinner draft’, where I was making game-by-game notes, piecing together a running narrative of the final, and formulating dual intros to cover both outcomes. It reached nearly 4,000 words – the majority of which was rendered completely useless by the time Alcaraz had saved three match points to stay alive and then Sinner climbed off the canvas to force the fifth-set tiebreak.
Sitting inside Court Philippe-Chatrier, you could not help being swept up by the irresistible force of Alcaraz, as the 22-year-old raised his level and took off on a staggering surge that surely no player in the sport’s history could subdue. Perhaps that’s a big claim, but like his epic comeback over the most successful men’s player of all time, Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Wimbledon final, another all-time classic, Alcaraz played his best tennis after being backed into a corner. It’s a unique quality, and a gift: the deeper the hole Alcaraz was in, the harder he fought to dig himself out. With the crowd on his side and Alcaraz riding the wave of his own momentum, it felt as if the Spaniard was unlocking new shots. Afterwards, he could barely believe where it got him. “The level was insane,” he said.
But boy was it hard not to feel for the 23-year-old Sinner, who had pushed Alcaraz to go there. When he is across the net from Alcaraz, Sinner’s own qualities are even more evident: the clinical precision of his crunching groundstrokes, the awesome, effortless power he produces on both sides, and the sharpness of his movement across the baseline. His more reserved, considered personality is reflected, too, against the fire of Alcaraz on the other side of the net. There is also an aura around Sinner, though, when he walks into a room – a focus that convinces you that he will be in a position to win every grand slam title over the next 10 years. Or at least there was in Paris before Alcaraz shattered it. The World No 1 was understandably broken when he came into the media theatre an hour or so after the final. “This one hurts,” Sinner said.
There is every chance that this defeat becomes a defining moment in Sinner’s career and those closest to him will have an important role to play in the coming days. But the Italian, from a small German-speaking Alpine town near the northern border, is kept grounded by his family. His dad, who is a chef at a mountain restaurant, missed the French Open final due to work. “We are just very simple family, you know,” Sinner said. “Nothing of our success changes in the family.”
He remains the dominant World No 1, who had won 31 consecutive grand slam slams before Alcaraz forced the fourth, and who has won 47 of the 50 matches he has played since August. The problem remains Alcaraz, who is responsible for all three of those defeats, and has now won five matches in a row against his young rival, including their first grand slam final.
“It’s not going to be a turning point,” Alcaraz said, fiercely. “I’m sure he’s going to learn from this match, and he’s going to come back stronger the next time we are going to face against each other. I’m pretty sure he’s going to [do] his homework. I repeat: I’m not going to beat him forever.”
It is another element of what makes the Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry so fascinating. The rest of the world’s best players are scared of Sinner and believe they can beat Alcaraz if his focus drops. But Alcaraz always raises his game against Sinner. Like Djokovic chasing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer after they dominated grand slam titles in the unprecedented era of the ‘Big Three’, Alcaraz and Sinner are going to push each other to new heights every time they play.
“For the sport it’s something amazing to have these players after Roger and Rafa – and Novak is still playing, of course,” said Alcaraz’s coach and former World No 2 Juan Carlos Ferrero. “They know they have to play unbelievable tennis to beat the other guy and it’s something that is going to help for sure each player to raise the level even more.”
There is a long way to go before two young men can join Djokovic, Nadal and Federer at that table, but they have already absorbed some of the talents and qualities of the ‘Big Three’ to write themselves into the record books with one of the greatest matches ever played. Alcaraz has Federer’s shot-making and Nadal’s intense belief, Sinner has developed Djokovic’s elasticity to defend the baseline, and both have the explosive power of attacking shot that is crucial in the modern game. They are playing even faster than the generation before them. “I’m sure that we’re going to see them lifting the big trophies quite often,” Djokovic said after his defeat to Sinner in the semi-finals.
Between them, they already account for six grand slam titles in a row. At 22, Alcaraz already has five, becoming a five-time champion at the same age – to the day – as his idol Nadal. Now with two French Opens and two Wimbledons, Alcaraz comes alive on the natural surfaces, but Sinner, with two Australian Opens and the US Open, has a 21-match winning run at the hard-court grand slams. And like a thrilling, extended rally between Alcaraz and Sinner, switching between unreal pace and sublime touch, we will all watch open-mouthed as they go stride for stride in a world that is now their own.
