Alcaraz: ‘Real champions are made in those situations’

Never had the Spaniard rallied from two sets down back to victory.

Never had anyone survived from three championship points down at Roland-Garros. Alcaraz hauled himself back from the brink to defend his patch 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(10-2).

“I prefer to win in three sets, honestly. I mean, I'm not going to lie, but when the situations are against you, let's say that you have to fight, keep fighting,” Alcaraz said. “I mean, it is a Grand Slam final. It's no time to be tired. It's no time to give up.

“It's time to keep fighting, trying to find your moment, your good place again and just go for it. I think the real champions are made in those situations when you deal with that pressure, with (those) situations in the best way possible. That's what the real champions have done in their whole careers.

“So I'm just trying to feel comfortable in the situations with the pressure, and I'm not being afraid of it.”

Less than 19 months separate the pair in age and having quickly established themselves as the heirs apparent to the era of the Big Three, there were few unknowns between them.

Their respective teams’ primary role heading into the title match was to create a sense of calmness and clarity, to clear their charges’ headspace and enable them to perform at their peak.

In the end though, nothing could determine just how the individual would react when under such enormous strain, when the 15,000-strong Chatrier faithful pined for more and when the two felt as though they were drawing on their mental and physical reserves.

Through sheer bloody-mindedness, Alcaraz discovered what it feels like to prevail under such circumstances.

After five hours and 29 minutes, the second-longest Grand Slam final after Novak Djokovic outlasted Rafael Nadal in a classic 2012 Australian Open decider, he took his major haul to five.

Roger Federer vs Nadal in the 2017 decider at Melbourne Park, Djokovic vs Federer at Wimbledon 2019, Nadal vs Federer at Wimbledon 2008, Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe Wimbledon 1980: only time will tell how the latest classic stacks up. Alcaraz is not so sure it deserves its place just yet.

“If people put our match at that table, it's a huge honour for me … Watching from outside or realising what that match is in the history of tennis, I don't know if our match is in the same table as them,” Alcaraz said. “But I’m just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the Grand Slams, in the history of Roland-Garros. I leave the discussion to the people.”

Front and centre among tennis royalty, among those afforded the best view just beyond the baseline, former world No.1 Andre Agassi could only shake his head in disbelief as the stoush entered uncharted territory.

He had been here and done it from two sets down for the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 1999 over unseeded Andrei Medvedev, but that contest never reached the heights that he witnessed on Sunday.

“There is nothing harder to do on a tennis court than play better than you have to,” Agassi told the TNT desk before he took his front-row seat.

Match points aside, Sinner served for the title at 5-4 in the fourth set, while second seed Alcaraz also faltered when he attempted to do the same at 5-4 in the fifth.

Still, he found a way to play better than he had to.

The first since Djokovic four years ago to recover from a two-set deficit to claim a Roland-Garros final, he becomes just the second player after Federer to win his first five Grand Slam finals.

His fifth major comes at the exact same age as Rafael Nadal when he won the same number – 22 years, one month and three days.

“I have to realise that I've done it. I think that's the first step,” he said. “Honestly the coincidence of winning my fifth Grand Slam in the same age as Rafa Nadal, I'm going to say that's the destiny, I guess.

“I mean, it is a stat that I'm going to keep for me forever, winning the fifth Grand Slam at the same time as Rafa, my idol, my inspiration. It's a huge honour, honestly. Hopefully it's not going to stop like this.”