Carlos Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev in the French Open final on Sunday to clinch the title and break the mind-blowing record of his idol Rafael Nadal.
Alcaraz, seeded third, won 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 on court Philippe-Chatrier to register his first Roland-Garros trophy and third Grand Slam singles title in total after triumphs at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
The result means Alcaraz has moved past fellow Spaniard Nadal to become the youngest man in the Open Era to win three major titles on all three surfaces – clay, grass and hard courts – as he looks to follow the path of his biggest tennis hero.
The 21-year-old now holds the same amount of Grand Slam titles as Andy Murray and has also become the second youngest man to win his first three major finals.
Alcaraz showcased his shot variety early-on to take the break in the first game of the first set – but Zverev responded with an instant break – as the young Spaniard looped his forehand wide in what was an extremely tense start to the final in Paris.
Following a trade of service games, Alcaraz took control with a dominant break to love as Zverev turned to his box with a look of bewilderment on his face, with the Wimbledon champion following it up with another hold to move further ahead.
Fourth-seed Zverev began to look despondent as Alcaraz settled in and grew in confidence, conjuring up more break-point opportunities in game seven, but the German battled back from 15-40 down to hold and keep the first set alive.
It wouldn’t matter, though, as Alcaraz responded with his own hold before wrapping up the first set 6-3, hitting a powerful forehand winner to secure his third break of the match.
If Zverev wasn’t feeling dejected enough, then missing three chances to break Alcaraz in the first game of the second set probably wasn’t going to help him.
The German was becoming more and more frustrated – shouting up to his box after Alcaraz’s second hold of the second set – but he went up a gear in game five to stun his opponent with a break as a shot from the Spaniard landed in the net.
Zverev then held and in the following game, he came from 15-40 down to remarkably secure a double break before another comfortable hold turned the match fully on its head as the German stunningly took the second set 6-2.
But as Zverev reached his top level, Alcaraz also went up a gear and neither player was able to register a break at the start of the third set, with the Spaniard letting out a huge roar of ‘Vamos!’ and pumping his fist after a tricky hold to lead 3-2.
That particular hold seemed to inspire Alcaraz, who then broke to love to open up a third-set lead before he saved three break points in the next game. Zverev still had plenty left in the tank, though, responding with a hold and his own break.
That really knocked the wind out of Alcaraz as Zverev held and then broke again – as the Spaniard took out his frustration on the umpire, complaining about the court – before the 27-year-old wrapped up the third set 7-5 to lead the match.
That left Alcaraz needing to produce something special – knowing that the final would go to a fifth and final set if he could just take the fourth – and he made the perfect start with a hold and break to lead 2-0 at the start of the fourth set.
It got even better for Alcaraz as Zverev then completely fell to pieces, with the Spaniard conjuring up another hold and making it a double break to lead 4-0.
Zverev finally stopped the rot with his own break as Alcaraz called for a medical time-out for treatment on the upper part of his left leg – and the pause in play seemed to boost the third seed – as he broke again and held to take the set 6-1.
That set up a dramatic decider and it was Alcaraz who went ahead as Zverev’s costly unforced errors saw him suffer an early break – but the trend of constant momentum swinging showed no sign of ending – as the Spaniard was then made to save four break points himself to hang on to his lead in a mammoth game four.
Zverev held to keep his hopes of walking away with La Coupe des Mousquetaires alive and wouldn’t stop fighting as Alcaraz was made to save more break points to maintain a 4-2 lead.
But it looked all over for Zverev when Alcaraz went 40-love up on his serve in the next game – registering one last break and hold to make it game, set and match and crown a new Spanish champion in the French capital after five thrilling sets.
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