Carlos Alcaraz defended his French Open tennis title. The Spanish talent did it again in five sets, similar to his victory against Alexander Zverev a year ago, but this time in a far more dramatic and, let’s face it, impossible and somewhat crazy way. Alcaraz broke the resistance of world number 1 Jannik Sinner despite being two sets down, after more than five hours of epic battle on the gladiator arena – Court Philippe Chatrier, in the longest final in the history of Roland Garros. So much history in one title clash and so many question marks that arose after it ended.

A clash that pitted the world's No. 1 and No. 2 – for the first time since 2013 (the US Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal) this was a fact in the men's tournament, and this year in Paris it also happened in the women's side (Aryna Sabalenka against Coco Gauff). So for the first time since 1982 there were finals between the top two rackets in the world in the men's and women's standings. In both cases, interestingly the winner was the second seeded. And while for Gauff this was a debut crown in the French capital, Alcaraz had already tasted triumph at RG. And he repeated the exercise, making Sinner miserable again after defeating him in five sets in the semifinals last year. With the difference that then he was losing "only" by one set to two.

The Italian can hardly be blamed for what happened on the court, because to some extent in the last three sets the physical preparation of both played a role in the overall winner. Alcaraz looked a bit fresher than his opponent, although Sinner fought like a lion for every ball. The very fact that Alcaraz reached a 7-0 lead in the decisive tiebreak of the fifth set shows the Spaniard's great physical condition in long matches and, above all, his character. This character was called into question against Sinner, after the world number 1 pulled away with 2-0 sets. Alcaraz had his chances to equalize, winning the tiebreak of the second set, but failed. From then on, a strong start to the third set restored his belief in the comeback, and the audience in Paris was on his side for the most part. However, what is difficult to analyze is what happened in the ninth game of the fourth set.

Then Sinner had a 5-3 lead and Alcaraz found himself in an extremely negative position – 0-40 on his own serve. History remembers some comebacks from extremely difficult situations in games like Djokovic's against Roger Federer in the semifinals of the US Open 2011. The 22-year-old Alcaraz gathered himself in the difficult moment, took his serve and then broke before taking the set in a tiebreak. And in the fifth decisive set, Carlos broke the Italian hearts with another amazing performance. He kept his composure in the important points and played a very high-quality championship tiebreak to 10 points, giving only two to the otherwise incredibly solid Sinner. Sinner, who until his loss today was on a streak of 31 consecutive sets won in the Slams and was looking for a third consecutive title of the highest category in his career after the ones at US Open 2024 and the Australian Open 2025. One thing is certain after this Sinner defeat - the chances of a career Grand Slam have gone away.

Looking at how this match will affect the two, there are many questions, and the answers are yet to be found. Speaking of Sinner, a loss of this caliber and in this manner will hurt for a while, and Wimbledon is knocking on the door, starting on June 30. The Italian needs to quickly shake off the defeat, as the grass season is approaching, and his performances at the All England Club do not fully give the world number 1 the necessary confidence that he can overcome the disappointment with a title on the sacred grass. The 23-year-old tennis player has two quarterfinals in 2022 and 2024 and a semifinal in 2023, lost to Djokovic in three sets.

For his part, Alcaraz, for whom this is a fifth Slam title (at 22 with five titles, Nadal was also there, coincidentally or not) is sky-high confident. And how could it be otherwise after such a phenomenal turnaround against the best in the world according to the rankings. The Spaniard is ready to defend his title at Wimbledon, where he triumphed in the last two years – in both occasions he defeated Djokovic. The Roland Garros champion will try to become the third in the new century with three or more consecutive All England Club titles after Roger Federer (2003-2007) and Djokovic (2018-2022, in 2020 there was no edition due to the coronavirus pandemic). And who dares to bet against Alcaraz after this mind-blowing final and the facts that the Spaniard demonstrated before Paris that he is the best on clay after the titles in Monte Carlo and Rome, as well as the final in Barcelona, ​​and at Wimbledon he has not been defeated since the fourth round in 2022, when he lost to...Sinner in four sets.

The Roland Garros 2025 final was historic. The longest in the history of the tournament, almost the longest ever – only the one between Djokovic and Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open is longer with an impressive 5 hours and 53 minutes compared to 5 hours and 29 minutes of the one in Paris. It is hard to imagine that we can see something like this anytime soon, but it is clear that the future of tennis is in safe hands with Sinner and Alcaraz. The Spaniard already leads 8-4 in direct clashes, and many are already rubbing their hands contentedly and eagerly awaiting their next match.

A rivalry that is too early to compare with those between the “Big Three” in the face of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal – both in terms of numbers, intrigue and history. But at 22 and 23 respectively, Alcaraz and Sinner have already played a dozen matches against each other and the French Open final was their first at a Grand Slam. What a start to these decisive battles for the trophy was given in Paris. Could a new spectacle between the two best in the world await us in London? We are yet to find out, but emotions on the court are guaranteed when two quality tennis players and athletes clash in terms of philosophies of the game, tactical plans, court behavior and mentality. And there will always be only one winner – on the court and for their fans. But for neutral tennis fans, the winner is every single supporter of this sport, because Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will be competing against each other for many years to come. | BGNES

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Stefan Ignatov, BGNES Sports Department