Carlos Alcaraz rallies past Jannik Sinner to retain French Open title

PARIS: Carlos Alcaraz rallied from two sets down to outlast Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2) in a French Open title clash here at Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday and keep his crown.

The victory marks Alcaraz’s fifth straight over Sinner and ends the Italian's 20-match winning streak at the majors.

The top seed Sinner was broken in the fifth game, before fighting back from 2-3 to claim the opening set.

Alcaraz drew level after 10 games and forced a tiebreak after trailing 1-4 in the second set, but Sinner was good enough to double his lead after two hours.

Alcaraz, who had never come back from two sets down before, came back winning third and fighting back from 5-3 in the fourth set.

In a high-quality decider, Alcaraz prevailed in the super tiebreak to become the third man to capture back-to-back Roland Garros titles this century after Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.

This Spaniard won his fifth Grand Slam title in a showdown which went on to last five hours and 29 minutes, the longest final at Roland Garros and the second-longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era and marked only the third time since 1968 that a player saved a match point en route to victory in a major final.

The Spaniard praised his rivalry with Sinner after collecting the Musketeers’ Cup.

"I'm just really happy to be able to make history with you in this tournament," Alcaraz said.

"I'm sure you're going to be champion not once, but many times. It's a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you," he added.

Alcaraz has become only the second man since the inception of professional tennis in 1968 to win all of his first five Grand Slam singles finals, following Swiss great Roger Federer.