PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz held off a five-set French Open final on Sunday to beat Alexander Zverev and become the youngest man to win Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.
The 21-year-old battled back cramps to recover from 2-1 down in sets to win a thrilling 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 match after four hours and 19 minutes on Court Philippe. Chatrier.
“When I finished school, I ran to turn on the TV just to watch this tournament and now I’m lifting the trophy in front of all of you, so thank you very much for everything,” an emotional Alcaraz told his family who were watching. on.
Alcaraz adds the Roland Garros crown to the Wimbledon title he won against Novak Djokovic last year and the 2022 US Open.
He heads to the Australian Open next year with a chance to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam.
Fourth-seeded Zverev, who two days ago settled a lawsuit in Germany over allegations of domestic violence, is still waiting for his first title.
He also lost his only previous Slam final in five sets, blowing a two-set lead against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open.
Zverev had high hopes of finally getting over the line – he has also lost six Slam semi-finals – but Alcaraz was too strong at key moments to level their head-to-head record at 5-5.
“It was amazing. The atmosphere, the support was amazing,” said the 27-year-old.
Alcaraz said before the final that he wanted to join the list of men from his country, including his idol Rafael Nadal, to win the title at Roland Garros and celebrated becoming Spain’s eighth champion by falling to the clay with his head in his hands. incredulously.
“Congratulations Carlos on this huge win! Wonderful! I’m so happy for your achievements! Vamos,” Nadal wrote on Twitter.
ZVEREV’S NERVOUS START
Zverev endured a miserable start, double-faulting the first two points of the match en route to a break in the opening game.
But Alcaraz was not immune to the nerves of his first French Open final, setting a prescribed forehand into the stands and then also double-faulting when he broke straight back.
However, it didn’t take long for the Spaniard to find his groove, and he broke to love in the fifth game on his way to a pocket.
The youngster had to save three break points to hold in the 10-minute first game of the second set but slipped to 3-2 when he failed to stave off two more break points as another forehand sailed into the crowd.
Suddenly Zverev had a spring in his step and Alcaraz retreated to the back of the court and fell with a double fault.
Zverev eventually wrapped up the one-sided second set with a love hold.
The German made it three straight love holds with two more early in the third set before Alcaraz celebrated coming out of a tricky service game unscathed by a punch as he led 3-2 despite being largely on the back foot.
Served into an increasingly strong breeze, Zverev was caught by an Alcaraz return that crept over the net and the Spaniard broke to love.
But he couldn’t serve out the set when Zverev’s raspy shot ensured his return.
The inability to take control of the match seemed to temporarily break Alcaraz’s spirit as he ended up losing five games and dropping a set.
CRUCIAL LINE CALL SAVES ALCARAZ
Alcaraz wouldn’t go down without a fight though, taking a 2-0 advantage in the fourth game with a gorgeous curling breakaway winner.
Just seconds earlier, Zverev had angrily denied a line call that was clearly correct, prompting jeers from the crowd.
The German was rattled and his serve began to desert him, with Alcaraz racing through the fourth set to force a decider despite having to take a medical time-out to treat an apparent cramp at 4-1 down.
Zverev had won 10 of his previous 11 five-setters at Roland Garros, but gave Alcaraz a break on the tray in the third game of the fifth.
Alcaraz stuttered and fell 0-40 in the next game.
He appeared to double-fault in the second break, but the umpire overruled the linesman’s call, despite Zverev’s angry protests, before Hawkeye’s records showed it was out.
Alcaraz went on to retain and it turned out to be the pivotal moment of the match.
Zverev went down in the seventh game of the double-break as Alcaraz delighted the fans with a blistering swing winner before smashing a forehand down the line.
He wrapped up the historic win with a booming forehand that Zverev couldn’t return.
Alcaraz beats Zverev to win first French Open title
