Carlos Alcaraz had his back against the wall in the Roland Garros final against Jannik Sinner at the Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday. Down two sets to one, Alcaraz faced three championship points in the fourth set but he was able to save every one of them to stay alive in the contest.
In the end, after battling for five hours and 29 minutes, Alcaraz had his hands on his second French Open title. Alcaraz registered a 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) triumph and became the third man in the Open Era to save at least one championship point en route to a Grand Slam trophy.
The Spaniard said he wanted to handle pressure with guile and wanted to keep on fighting despite the odds stacked against him.
“I prefer to win in three sets honestly. I’m not going to lie,” said Alcaraz, who saved three championship points in the fourth set, with a chuckle in his post-match press conference. “But when the situations are against you, you have to fight and keep fighting. It is a Grand Slam final. It’s no time to be tired. It’s no time to give up. It’s time to keep fighting, trying to find your moment, your good place again, and just go for it.
“I think the real champions are made in situations when you deal with that pressure, with those situations, in the best way possible. That’s what the real champions have done in their whole careers. I’m just trying to feel comfortable in the situations with pressure and not be afraid of it.”
Alcaraz and Sinner’s marathon game has been likened to classics like Bjorn Borg’s 1980 Wimbledon win against John McEnroe, or Rafael Nadal’s 2008 victory against Roger Federer.
“Honestly, if people put our match on that table, it’s a huge honour for me,” said the five-time major champion. “I don’t know if it is at the same level as those matches because those matches are the history of tennis and the history of the sport. So I let the people talk about it, if for them this match was almost the same.
“For me, watching from outside or realising what that match is in the history of tennis, I don’t know if our match is on the same table as them. But I’m just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the Grand Slams, in the history of Roland Garros. I leave the discussion to the people.”
After a successful campaign in Paris, Alcaraz will look to carry the same form into the grass season.
