"Technically and physically, it was extraordinary": Former French Open champion 'blown away' with level of tennis by Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner

Former world number three Yannick Noah has opened up about his experience of watching the French Open 2025 men’s singles final. This year’s final arguably turned out to be one of the greatest finals in the history of Roland Garros.

In that contest, which lasted more than five hours and officially became the second-longest final in the history of the Grand Slams, it was Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz who came out on top against Italy’s Jannik Sinner in a five-set thriller with a score of 4-6,6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. Alcaraz’s triumph was a special one for so many reasons.

The young Spaniard lost the first two sets against Sinner but managed to make a grand comeback and win the contest in five sets. In the fourth set, Alcaraz was just one point away from losing the contest as Sinner had three championship points. Former French Open winner Noah has recently spoken to RMC Sport, where he spoke about the quality of that match.

Noah stated that he was seated in the second round at the playing arena, and according to him, the match was played at a speed of ’10,000’ an hour. Noah stated that the contest was ‘extraordinary’, both technically and physically. Noah then went on to commend Sinner for the way he handled that heartbreaking defeat. Noah stated that Sinner’s handling of the situation was ‘classy’ and that the final had ‘everything’.

"For a bit of context, I was sitting in the second row [for the Roland-Garros final],” said Noah. “I settle in, and from the very first point of the match, I don’t know if it was PlayStation, but they were playing at 10,000 an hour. Technically and physically, it was extraordinary. They were hitting from every angle. There was a dramatic side with the match point. And on top of that, I found Sinner very classy in defeat. It was so beautiful. It was a very fine final on every level; it had everything.”

Noah then went on to highlight that he was ‘blown away’ with the level of tennis played by Alcaraz and Sinner in that final. Noah was also of the opinion that the final of the French Open 2025 was at least equal to the quality of tennis produced by the ‘Big Three’, which consisted of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, if not better than that. Noah further stated that both Sinner and Alcaraz will have ‘great days ahead’ considering their age.

“A year and a half ago, we were saying: 'After them, there will be nothing for ten years.' Three days later, you have Sinner and Alcaraz arriving and playing at a level,” said Noah. “I’m blown away by the level. It’s at least equal, if not superior, and these guys are 22 years old. When you consider that Nadal reached his best level at 28-29, you realize these guys have great days ahead of them. It’s promising.”

Sinner and Alcaraz’s domination in men’s tennis is visible in the fact that both players have shared the last eight Grand Slams since the start of 2024. This year, both faced off in the final of three out of the four major events, showing exactly how far ahead he is compared to the rest of the players on the tour. After a historic French Open final, Sinner managed to get his revenge quickly against Alcaraz when they faced off in the final at Wimbledon. In that contest, Sinner came out on top with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The two once again faced off in the final of the US Open where Alcaraz proved his dominance once again as he defeated defending champion Sinner with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.