Clay king Alcaraz stronger than the pressure

"There are shots that I don't know how I managed to hit," explained Alcaraz after his highly dramatic five-set victory at Roland Garros. Although he was 2-0 down in sets and had to fend off three match points in the fourth round, the Spaniard never lost faith in himself and a turnaround.

"I never doubted myself," he admitted. "Today I gave everything I had to try and make it. That's why I play my best tennis in the decisive moments." In difficult situations, you have to bring out the best version of yourself, he said. "That's what true champions do and that's what I tried to do to get to their level," reflected Alcaraz.

Following in Nadal's footsteps

The fact that at the age of 22 he has now won as many Grand Slam tournaments as his compatriot Rafael Nadal at the same age still feels a little surreal for the Spaniard. "I first have to realize what I've achieved. The coincidence that I won my fifth title at the same age as Rafael Nadal, my idol and inspiration, is probably fate. It's an honor and I hope it doesn't stop there."

Alcaraz admitted that he had Nadal's legendary comebacks on his mind during the final. "I watched Rafa in his great turns. That fighting spirit of never giving up was exactly what I needed to mobilize today."

When asked whether he sees this match on a par with the legendary Wimbledon finals between McEnroe and Borg (1980) and Federer and Nadal (2008), Alcaraz replied modestly: "If it was like that, it's a great honor for me. I don't know if it was on the same level, because these finals belong in the history of this sport." He was simply "happy that we have written our names in the history books of this tournament today". He left the comparisons to others.

The world numbers one and two battled for the title at Roland Garros for 5 hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest final match in the history of the tournament. Only once before has a Grand Slam final lasted longer: at the 2012 Australian Open, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal battled it out for 5:53 hours before the match ended with a 5:7, 6:4, 6:2, 6:7 (5:7), 7:5 victory for the Serb.

NextGen? NowGen!

The first Major final between Alcaraz and Sinner was also a promise for the future. Anyone who feared that without the Big 3 around the still active Djokovic and the retired Federer and Nadal, there would be no more finals to captivate tennis fans around the globe was proved wrong on Sunday.

Even after more than five hours, the Spaniard and the Italian were hitting the balls as hard, precisely and spectacularly as each other. It was a duel that could really only be decided by a match tie-break, so marginal were the differences between the two finalists. In terms of points, Sinner even had a slight edge over Alcaraz in the end with 193:192.

The next showdown could take place at Wimbledon in five weeks' time. As at Roland Garros, Alcaraz will once again enter the tournament as defending champion, while Sinner will be aiming for his first appearance in the final on the hallowed turf of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Of course, he would have no objections if he were to emerge victorious in south-west London.