Carlos Alcaraz won his first French Open title on Sunday, beating Alexander Zverev in the men’s singles final at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris.
In a five-set match that lasted four hours and 19 minutes, Alcaraz – the third seed – beat the fourth seeded German 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 to pick up his third Grand Slam title.
With the win, Alcaraz becomes the youngest player to win a men’s singles Major on three different surfaces. His first Grand Slam title came on the hard courts of the US Open in 2022, followed by the grass-court title at Wimbledon in 2023.
The final on Sunday, however, guaranteed a new men’s singles winner at Roland Garros for the first time since the 2016 edition when Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray for the French Open crown.
Zverev, who lost the 2020 US Open final to Dominic Thiem was playing in only his second Grand Slam final, while Alcaraz was playing in his third.
It was the Spaniard, however, who started off brighter of the two players by clinching the first set 6-3.
Zverev broke the Alcaraz serve twice in the second set to level the match.
The momentum had swung the other way in the third set, with Alcaraz serving for the set at 5-3, only for the German to come back strong and win five games on the trot to go up two sets to one.
In the fourth set, it was Alcaraz who once again ceased the initiative and raced to a 4-0 lead before eventually winning the set 6-1. He continued in that same vein as he started to work Zverev around the court in the deciding set before eventually getting two breaks of serve and serving it out for the title.
Here are some of the reactions to Alcaraz’s win on social media:
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