DISCUSSION ATP French Open Roland Garros Final | Has Carlos Alcaraz ascended to become New King of Clay?

ATP
Monday, 09 June 2025 at 11:40
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The French Open has come to an end at Roland Garros with a men's final for the ages won by a certain Carlos Alcaraz. He defeated Jannik Sinner in the first running of the Sinner-Alcaraz tandem in a final. It was a 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-7 win in favour of the latter Spaniard.
After losing the opening two sets to Sinner, the Italian looked to be in the ascendancy. But in one of the most dramatic finals of the open era and the longest. It was Alcaraz who saved three championship points. He claimed the win and retains his title.
He now heads to Wimbledon aiming to defend that too and will play Queen's in just over a week to begin that quest. After the final finished, we asked some of our editors for their thoughts and main takeaways from today's action.

Cristhian Avila (TennisUpToDate)

The duels between Alcaraz and Sinner have had something special since their first encounter. Carrying the pressure of the Big Three matters little to these two, and in their first Grand Slam final, they made history. For me, it easily enters the top-3 best matches in history – joining Nadal's victory over Federer at Wimbledon 2008, and Djokovic's triumph over Nadal at the Australian Open 2012.
And despite the unfair comparisons with the three greatest of all time, Sinner and Alcaraz appear to be worthy heirs. A duel that had everything, and that the Spaniard ended up winning, just like his motto – 'head, heart, and balls'. How unfair that there aren't two winners, as Sinner takes the most painful defeat of his career.
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Sinner-Alcaraz the duel that had everything.
We don't know if this rivalry will endure for the many years we saw Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic making history. But there's no doubt that in a short time, they are already marking an era in tennis history.
It will be interesting to see what comes next. Alcaraz moves to 8-4 in the head-to-head – with 5 consecutive wins against Sinner. Will the Italian be able to find an answer to his kryptonite, Alcaraz? At least on clay, he managed to almost nullify the differences, and on grass, things will probably be more comfortable for the Italian.
For the rest of the tennis world, all that's left is to hope for a great Wimbledon from both, and hopefully, another final of this caliber in a few weeks.

Samuel Gill (TennisUpToDate)

Pundits and analysts have often called this the rivalry of the future and a final we will see time and again to the point where it has almost become a bit cliche by now.
But the final of the French Open did seriously deliver for all of those who perhaps doubted Alcaraz and Sinner's ability to carry forward the torch into the new era. Whether Alcaraz or Sinner won, a final as good as what was on display was always going to herald a passing of the torch which is already well underway.
Such was the case with Novak Djokovic losing earlier in the tournament and hinting at retirement, the time is now for these new names to enter the foray and tennis should be excited about its future with these two at the helm.
Alcaraz though in particular should be heralded. Going two sets down and recovering as he did shows some cojones but in reality, it shows that the bottle which at times hasn't been there is in fact there in spades.
A player who started the clay court season as the top dog before getting injured, he again has peaked at the right time. I'm also very intrigued for both when it comes to Wimbledon.
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Alcaraz had a lightbulb moment at Wimbledon. Can the same be said for Sinner going forward?
Alcaraz is defending champion and Sinner has often not favoured clay so him performing on it was sort of the lightbulb moment like Alcaraz at Queen's two years ago. Will the Italian have a similar moment in the sun to shine at SW19?
Men's tennis has often been a bit chastised in reality amid the unpredictability of women's tennis as a sport dominated by a few players and it makes it boring. Play that final 10 times and you get 10 different outcomes, that makes it worth all the hype and the noise. Is Carlos Alcaraz the new King of Clay though? Not in Nadal's vein as comparisons to that are pointless and lazy. But is he the new king to take it forward? Yes he is. Jannik Sinner though will be snapping at his heels to take that crown off him though. Exciting times ahead.

Jack Clucas (TennisUpToDate)

Carlos Alcaraz showed just why he shouldn’t be forgotten as one of Tennis’ biggest stars in this final. After going Two sets down it was seen as a hopeless task to try and battle his way back to victory, however a resurgent fight lead the Spaniard to one of the best ever Grand Slam victories, against a huge favourite in Jannik Sinner.
In my opinion not many tennis players in history could’ve pulled that off but Alcaraz is now officially one of them. A monumental victory that will surely lead to a very positive grass swing coming up."

Pascal Michiels (TennisUpToDate)

I just feel that Jannik Sinner lost this final more than Carlos Alcaraz won it. As Sinner admitted in his post-match speech, he won’t sleep well tonight—and I doubt he will for several nights to come. Let’s not forget: he had Alcaraz on the ropes in the fourth set.
At 0-40 and leading two sets to one with a 5-3 advantage, Sinner was so confident of closing it out that he became overeager, squandering two golden chances. On his third match point, he played it too safe and let the rally—and momentum—slip away.
From that moment on, Sinner looked more vulnerable than he should have. There was still room for improvement in his game, especially on serve. Even in that pivotal fourth set, how many first serves missed by mere millimetres? It felt like at least 15 times. He had to rely too heavily on his second serve.
That opened the door for Alcaraz, who returned brilliantly and served even better as the fourth and fifth sets progressed. He gradually dialed in his blistering forehand—and that shot would become the difference-maker in the super tiebreak.
To his credit, Sinner fought back in the fifth set. He didn’t have the crowd behind him and was clearly frustrated when the umpire missed a call on an Alcaraz shot that appeared out, denying him a crucial break point. Still, he broke back when Alcaraz served for the match, then went up 6-5—only to donate a couple of free points on serve and force the super tiebreak.
Alcaraz seized the moment. He earned the mini-break immediately, followed it up with two massive serves, then capitalized on one weak and one excellent Sinner shot. Suddenly, it was 5-0. Another pair of commanding serves, and it was 7-0. The match, after more than 325 minutes of brutal, high-level tennis, was decided in a blink—because le moment suprëme lasted less than 325 seconds.
That is brutal. All of Italy must be crying tonight. Yes, Alcaraz won it. But I still don’t understand how Sinner lost it. Maybe it’s just that tennis doesn’t allow for a draw. And Carlitos simply said: “Thanks tennis... for having no draws.”
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