Five-set thriller:
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Carlos Alcaraz has added his name to the list of Roland Garros winners! The Spaniard beat the German Alexander Zverev 6:3, 2:6, 5:7, 6:1 and 6:2 in the final of the French Open on Sunday afternoon after more than four hours. It is the 21-year-old's third Grand Slam title.
With this triumph, Alcaraz has already secured Grand Slam titles on all surfaces. He is the youngest player in the professional era to achieve this feat, having triumphed at the US Open (hard court) in 2022 and at Wimbledon (grass) in 2023.
No happy ending for Zverev again
However, the 27-year-old German also lost his second major final. It was a case of deja vu for him. As in 2020 in Flushing Meadows in a memorable match against Dominic Thiem from Lower Austria, there was no happy ending after a five-set battle. Alcaraz, however, also successfully mastered his third Grand Slam final. His reward is not only prize money of 2.4 million euros, but also a move up to second place in the ATP world rankings from Monday. This will then be led for the first time by South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner, who Alcaraz also defeated in five sets in the semi-final.
Alcaraz had to go through five sets for the twelfth time in his career, emerging victorious eleven times. At Roland Garros, he became the seventh Spaniard in the open era to lift the trophy, making up for the early exit of 14-time winner Rafael Nadal. He drew 5:5 in the head-to-head with Zverev.
"It's an incredible job that the whole team has done. I struggled a lot after the injury, it didn't feel so good, there were some doubts, also because I haven't practiced very much. But it's been a great journey from the first match to here," said Alcaraz during his victory speech on court after receiving the trophy from the hands of legend Björn Borg. He had felt incredible support from the stands. "That's what made the tournament so special."
Zverev a fair loser
The young star also had praise for the loser. "You played at a very high level, I'm sure that the future will give you the chance to win Grand Slams and this tournament," said Alcaraz. Zverev presented himself as a fair loser and described the Spaniard as an "incredible player" in his speech.
Nerves in the first set
Both players were noticeably nervous at the start of their first Paris final and were unable to get their serves through. At 3:2, the Spaniard once again took the service from his opponent, then shone with his enthusiasm and ended the first set with another break. The match then remained evenly poised until 2:2, before the now much more active Zverev suddenly appeared dominant and equalized the set with four games in a row.
Zverev turns the match around
Set number three was extremely strange, as everything was going Alcaraz's way until he took a 5:2 lead with a break. However, the Spaniard was no longer moving so well when he had this comfortable lead and made a few easy mistakes, allowing the German to make two breaks and win the set 7:5. After Alcaraz missed a break point, Zverev converted his second set point.
This was not a preliminary decision. With the deficit behind him, Alcaraz took the initiative again and pulled away to 4:0 with a double break. Zverev managed a re-break at 1:4. Alcaraz had to treat his left thigh and took a painkiller. He didn't let the problems show after that, he continued to move well and saved himself confidently with two more games in the fifth set.
Two breaks in the deciding set
Alcaraz broke to make it 2:1, but the ups and downs on both sides continued. First, the Spaniard was 0:40 down, fended off a total of four break points and went 3:1 up. In the next marathon game, Zverev was able to reduce the deficit to 2:3 after fending off a break point. Alcaraz also had problems with his serve, but held it and didn't concede another game. The Spaniard, driven on by coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, was simply more composed on the decisive points.
As a result, he won the title on his fourth appearance in Paris after losing the 2023 semi-final against Novak Djokovic. Since the turn of the millennium, only his compatriot Nadal was younger than Alcaraz when he won his maiden triumph in Paris. It was his 14th ATP triumph. Zverev suffered another low blow on Court Philippe Chatrier, where he had seriously injured his foot in the semi-final against Nadal two years ago. And this after he had said after winning the semi-final against Casper Ruud when asked about a possible title: "If not now, then when?"
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