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Carlos Alcaraz made a dramatic entrance into tennis history by winning his first French Open championship and becoming the youngest player to win dramatic Slams on all three surfaces with a nail-biting five-set triumph over German Alexander Zverev on Sunday.
The 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 victory may not have been a classic, but the Spaniard demonstrated his status among the best by adding a third Grand Slam championship to his 2022 U.S. Open and 2023 Wimbledon victories.
Alcaraz became the eighth man to win a major on hard, grass, and clay courts, a feat that has escaped several of the game’s greats, including American Pete Sampras, who has 14 major titles but has never won at Roland Garros.
Alcaraz has won three grand slam finals at the age of 21, but Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had to wait until their late 20s to conquer the sport’s slowest surface.
“I’ve been racing from school to the television to watch this event since I was a tiny kid. Now I’m raising the trophy in front of you all,” said Alcaraz, whom Zverev called a “Hall of Famer.”
Sunday’s defeat added to Zverev’s dissatisfaction with Grand Slams, as the German has yet to win a title despite reaching the final four times.
“I’ll be back next year,” Zverev said.
In the first men’s Roland Garros final without a member of the Big Three—Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, or Federer—in two decades, Alcaraz and Zverev failed to impress, their lack of consistency leading to a poor performance.
Alcaraz often appeared to have the upper hand, only to lose it multiple times, but he eventually rose to the occasion against an increasingly frustrated Zverev, who entered the final on a 12-match winning streak on clay.
The fourth seed has now lost both Grand Slam finals, including the U.S. Open decider four years ago, when he was two points away from defeating Dominic Thiem.
Alcaraz, who has often struggled with nerves at Roland Garros, where his compatriot Nadal has won a record 14 titles, maintained his cool despite a few blips.
On a sun-kissed court, Philippe Chatrier blasted a forehand winner down the line to take an early lead, only for Zverev, who defeated an aged Nadal in the first round, to tie at 1-1.
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