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The French Open men’s final came down to an epic between two of the top athletes in the sport on Sunday – Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.
In what turned out to be one of the most exciting contests in sports this year, Alcaraz stormed back to defeat Sinner 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).
It appeared Sinner had the advantage early in the match. Sinner won the first set 6-4 and came away with a 7-6 win in set No. 2. But the momentum the Italian star built appeared to fizzle away as Alcaraz came back stronger each time Sinner tried to put him away.
Alcaraz took the third set, 6-4. Then, Sinner had a 5-3 advantage on Alcaraz in the fourth set, but the Spanish star dug down deep and tapped into a different mentality. He came back to tie the set at six games apiece and then forced a tiebreaker in which he won 7-3.
Alcaraz won the first game of the fifth set after a shot that landed close to the net on Sinner’s side. All the momentum seemingly shifted to Alcaraz as he took and maintained the lead.
Sinner would not go quietly. Though he became frustrated in the middle of the set, he showed the crowd at Roland Garros why he was the No. 1 tennis player in the world. He hit an incredible shot close to the net that even Alcaraz couldn’t reach. Alcaraz, despite having the serve, couldn’t get the winner he needed. Sinner tied the set five games apiece.
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Sinner dug deep. Just when he could have let go of his grip on the tournament, he was back. He took a 6-5 lead after Alcaraz forced the game back to deuce. Incredible shot after incredible shot, and it was Sinner who had the edge to what could have been the deciding set.
Not so fast, Alcaraz essentially said. He forced the deciding-set tiebreaker with an incredible backhand winner.
The crowd watched with bated breath as the two tennis players continued to hit the ball back and forth on the iconic red clay. It took more than five hours to finally decide a winner.
Alcaraz came through, winning the tiebreaker 10-2 and capturing the French Open title for the second straight year.
It was the first time Alcaraz has come back from a two-set deficit to win a match. He also has five consecutive victories over Sinner.
Sinner was searching for a third straight Grand Slam title going back to the 2024 U.S. Open. He won the Australian Open earlier in the year.
Alcaraz and Sinner will now look to Wimbledon next month. The Spanish tennis player won Wimbledon for the first time last year.
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