Carlos Alcaraz wins French Open as he comes from behind to beat Alexander Zverev in epic
Carlos Alcaraz won his third Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Carlos Alcaraz is the new Spanish King of Clay at the French Open after battling back to beat Alexander Zverev in a five-set rollercoaster encounter.
And the Wimbledon winner also becomes the first man to win his first three Grand Slam titles on different surfaces - hardcourt, grass and now clay - at the age of 21 in an event which could be Rafa Nadal’s final Major.
Like the world No. 3’s semi-final win over Jannik Sinner, this final was not a classic with the two players making a combined 97 unforced errors.
Related articles
But despite needing medical treatment on his left thigh, Alcaraz still had the heart to become the first player in the Open era to come back from two sets to one down in the semis and final to win the French Open. He said he had “enjoyed the suffering” beating Sinner - and this time the world No.3 won 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in four hours and 18 minutes
A tournament which started with a week of cloud and rain ended with the Spaniard’s brilliant smile lighting up Court Philippe-Chatrier.
After the first final here not to include any of the Big Three since 204, He is the first new French Open champion since Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray in the 2016 final.. Alcaraz is also the seventh different Spanish male winner here to follow in the footsteps of Rafa Nadal and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The defeat brought an end to an extraordinary tournament for Zverev who started Roland Garros by sending home Rafa Nadal and finished with defeat to another Spaniard.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
And in between, the world No.4 reached an out-of-court settlement with his ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea to stop his trial over an allegation of domestic abuse from May 2020.
There was no admission of guilt by Zverev but the Olympic champion becoming a Grand Slam winner just two days later would have felt uncomfortable for many in the sport.
Speaking on French TV before the final, former world No.11 Alize Cornet admitted: “My heart wants Carlos to win because I am a big fan of the Spaniard since he started. A bit less of a fan of Zverev for lots of other reasons"
The Olympic champion was booed by the French crowd for questioning another line call in the final set. It is his second five-set defeat in a Grand Slam final after losing the 2020 final to Dominic Thiem.
Don't miss...
French Open chief addresses claims Grand Slam is sexist and responds to Djokovic [RESPONSE]
Coco Gauff ready to change Wimbledon plans after winning French Open doubles [REACTION]
French Open queen Iga Swiatek devises plan to end her Wimbledon struggles [PREVIEW]
The tone for a scrappy match was set early. Zverev started the match with two double faults to big cheers as he was broken in the first game before Alcaraz immediately gave the break back with a backhand error.
The Spaniard broke again to lead 3-2 and took his first set point after 43 minutes with a forehand cross court winner for another break.
Rome Masters champion Zverev, who had won his last 12 matches on clay, finally found his forehand and his confidence in the second set.
With the strong breeze whipping up the clay on the court, the German broke to lead 3-2 when Alcaraz framed a horrible forehand into the stand. The Spaniard gave up another break with a double fault to trail 2-5 before Zverev took his first set point with a forehand drop shot.
In the third set, Alcaraz clenched his fist to hold to lead 3-2 and then immediately broke to lead 4-2.
But he then collapsed to win only four points in the next four games - including serving for the second set at 5-3 when Zverev produced a backhand pass which caused the Spaniard to attempt a dive volley but he dropped his racquet as well as his serve.
The Wimbledon champion saved one set point but Zverev took his second with a forehand winner to lead two sets to one after two hours and 40 minutes.
But Alcaraz regrouped to break serve to lead 2-0 with a stunning running forehand pass and raced to a 4-0 lead before Zverev got one break back with a backhand pass. Leading 4-1, Alcaraz called for a medical timeout for treatment on his left thigh but the German then played a terrible service game and dumped a forehand into the net to trail 5-1.
Serving for the set, Alcaraz saved three break points before he took his first set point when Zverev’s drop shot hit the net.
At 1-1 in the final set, Zverev missed two easy volleys on the first two points before suffering a psychologically damaging break. .
In the next game the Spaniard saved four break points - and Zverev was booed by the challenging an over-rule by umpire Rene Liechtenstein “No way,” claimed the German.
Alcaraz produced a stunning one-handed pass as he broke the Zverev serve for a ninth time before taking his first match point when Zverev could not retrieve his forehand crosscourt.
