Jun 6, 2025; Paris, FR; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts to a point during his match against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy match on day 13 at Roland Garros Stadium.

tennis

Carlos Alcaraz Proves That ‘Spanish Never Die’ in the Greatest Heist to Retain French Open Crown vs Jannik Sinner

Spaniard edges out one of the best matches of the Open Era.

Jun 6, 2025; Paris, FR; Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts to a point during his match against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy match on day 13 at Roland Garros Stadium.

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz justified that he is the new King of Clay for a reason on Sunday, producing a comeback for the ages to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(10-2) in the 2025 French Open final. The Spaniard saved three championship points en route to capturing his second straight title at Roland Garros. Meanwhile, the Italian will rue his missed opportunities on a thrilling night.

Record-breaking. Historical. Legendary.

We can't find the words anymore for our stat of the day by @Infosys 📊 #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/ipvTXk18cu
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025

It was a battle of similar, yet contrasting style of play from both players. While Alcaraz generally has a higher bandwidth and brutality in terms of his shot making, Sinner continues to display that consistency is key. The main challenge for the reigning Wimbledon champion was to get Sinner to move front and back as opposed to sideways. While he did throw in some drops and low percentage groundstrokes, the quality wasn’t always up to the mark. But in the end, clutch mentality counts.

Sinner Races Ahead in High Quality Contest

It was Carlos Alcaraz who grabbed a stranglehold of the final initially, as he broke Sinner early on. However, the Italian fought back to equalise the set. Under pressure, he resorted to first serves to the Alcaraz backhand, citing opportunities to open up the court. A key talking point was the return position on the second serves – while the top seed adopted an attacking approach, his Spanish counterpart seemed to mix up his stance.

Breaking late in the set courtesy a poor service game by Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner won the opener 6-4. As the second set began, Alcaraz was seemingly tight and error-prone. Trailing by a considerable margin, he managed to claw his way back by winning deep cross-court rallies. Despite Sinner playing a near-perfect tiebreak from the baseline to win the second set, it gave Carlitos some confidence and momentum to take the third 6-4.

Seeing is believing. @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/TzmRTNzMEL
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 8, 2025

Clutch World No. 2 Produces Eternal Parisian Comeback

The third set against Alcaraz happened to be the only set that Sinner has dropped in a Grand Slam this year. With fatigue kicking in, the defending US Open and Australian Open titleist focused on holding serve and remaining on even terms. When the opportunity arose, he pounced and broke Alcaraz to go up 4-3. But as all great champions do, Murcia’s finest refused to hand the match on a platter.

Down 3-5 and 0-40 on his own serve, it could be said that Roland Garros organisers began carving Sinner’s name onto the trophy. Subsequently as he admitted himself in the past, Alcaraz displayed how “Spanish never die!” With a masterclass in shotmaking, composure and athleticism, he saved three championship points. Alcaraz then broke Sinner in the next game and dominated the tiebreak that ensued to send the match into a decider.

CARLOS II, PRINCE OF CLAY 👑#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/0URmCZ0MMp
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025

Unlike the second set, Carlos approached the fifth set with a newfound energy and level. Both men were pretending like they hadn’t been playing for 4 hours. Trading blows from the back of the court, the average rally count went up further. The Spaniard broke in the very first game, and then brought out his entire bag of tricks. Serving for the match at 5-4 however, there was yet another twist. Eventually, the match was sent into a championship tiebreak – the only fitting ending.

Leaving his best for the last, Carlos Alcaraz painted the lines to become the owner of the Musketeers’ Cup again!

ATP

Carlos Alcaraz

French Open

Jannik Sinner

Roland Garros

Tennis

Sankalp Harikrishnan

A passionate sports fan through and through, I am currently pursuing my MA in Global Sports Journalism. I specialise in tennis and football writing at The Playoffs News, and I have prior experience working at EssentiallySports and Sportskeeda. Born and raised in Bengaluru, India, sport was my safe space right from my childhood. After trying my hand at multiple sports and representing my educational institutions in cricket, badminton and table tennis, I found sports media to be my calling.