Carlos Alcaraz wins the French Open and earns his 3rd Grand Slam title

The winner of Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with the trophy after he took home the final match for men in the French Open tennis tournament against Alexander Zverev of Germany on the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday. Thibault Camus/AP conceal caption

The AAP
10/06/2024

Thibault Camus/AP

PARIS — – As Carlos Alcaraz began building his comeback for Sunday’s French Open final, a 6-1, 6-3, 5-7, 2-6 6-1, 6-2 win in the final against Alexander Zverev for a first victory in the history of Roland Garros and third Grand Slam title all in all There came the kind of shot he has mastered that is incorporating into a regular part of his diversified selection of shots.

It was a running and sliding, down-the-line invincible forehand pass winner that Alcaraz exclaimed by throwing the right hand of his index finger upwards in the form of a “No. 1″ signal, before throwing an uppercut, yelling, “Vamos!”

There’s no way he’s placed at no. 1. Currently he is ranked No.the guy he defeated at the semis Jannik Sinner makes his appearance in the top of the list on Monday. Alcaraz has played before and, while the number “2” will be beside his name in the coming week There is no doubt that he’s about as good as you can get in tennis for males at the moment. He is more successful than anyone when he was his age.

Alcaraz is a 21-year-old male from Spain who was a kid returning home from school to watch television while his the countryman Rafael Nadal was accumulating title after title at Roland Garros — a record 14 titles. And Alcaraz surpassed Nadal as the tiniest man to win major championships on three different surfaces. Nadal was only 1 1/2 years younger when the feat was completed.

“Different tournaments, different aura,” Alcaraz stated when asked to differentiate between his trio of awards “but I’m going tell you: the similar feeling. That’s why winning the Grand Slam is always special.”

This clay-court major is a rematch of the hardware he won in hard court competitions at the U.S. Open in 2022 and on grass at Wimbledon in 2023. He’s 3-0 in Slam finals.

“It’s an incredible career already. It’s already Hall Famer. You’ve already accomplished so much even though you’re just 21 years old.” stated Zverev who also lost at the 2020 U.S. Open final, which came after he was just two points away from winning. “Incredible player. It’s not the last time you’ll be able to be winning this.”

Zverev is a 27-year old from Germany was eliminated from at the French Open in the semifinals in the last three years, and was also eliminated due to tearing ligaments in his ankles during two sets against Nadal during the same round in 2022. The day before Zverev’s semifinal victory against Casper Ruud began on Friday the Berlin district court announced he had reached an agreement outside of court that halted the trial arising from an ex-girlfriend’s claim of assault during a fight in 2020.

On Sunday, against Alcaraz, Zverev faltered after a roaring start, winning the final 5 games in the 3rd set. Alcaraz’s performance slowed in the middle of the set and he appeared lost in a dispute over the clay’s condition and told the chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein that the situation seemed “unbelievable.”

However, Alcaraz changed his mind and went off with it, winning 12 of the 15 last games, all while being monitored by a trainer during changing times for discomfort and cramping in his left calf.

“I know that when I’m playing a fifth set, you have to give everything and you have to give your heart,” Alcaraz declared. “I mean, in those moments, it’s where the top players give their best tennis.”

No. third Seed Alcaraz along with No. 4 Zverev made their debut in 3 seed Alcaraz and No. 4 Zverev were making their debut in a French Open final. In fact, it was the first title match for men held at Roland Garros since 2004 without at least one of Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.

Nadal He is 38 and has been hampered by injuries in the last two seasons, was defeated by Zverev at the beginning of round one two weeks ago. Djokovic 37, who is who has won three times, pulled out prior to the quarterfinals due an injury to his knee which required surgery. Federer 42, who has retired.

There were a few jitters at the beginning. Zverev started off with two double-faults switching rackets following the second one, as if the equipment was the cause and he broke his wrist. Alcaraz lost serve immediately, too.

Let’s say they will not be spending those first 10 minutes at the Louvre. The majority of the 19-minute, four-hour match was sporadic, dotted with mistakes that weren’t made.

Alcaraz played at his top when it mattered most — in the closing two sets.

“I lost my focus, and also on my serve, I was unable to get the strength from my legs this is odd. Since I normally don’t feel exhausted. I’m not cramping,” Zverev said. “Against Carlos, it’s a different intensity.”

Similar to what he did against Zverev, Alcaraz overturned a set deficit from two sets to one in the match against Sinner which made him the first person to win his first title at the French Open by doing that in the final two matches after Manolo Santana, who was himself originally from Spain — did it in 1961.

Alcaraz displayed all his talents including the dropping shots, elegant half-volleys and forehands that were backed with a booming grunt. The 27 forehand winners he scored exceeded Zverev’s record of 20.

This is a great result for a player who made his way to Paris declaring he was frightened to smash his forehand full force due to an injury to his forearm which sidelined him for the entirety of May. He told reporters on that he had “a lot of doubts” when he entered this year’s French Open and he was restricted in his practice time. This is the reason why he regards this win as the most gratifying moment of his still-in-the-making career.

in the 5th set despite the continuous pressure and pressure of Alcaraz, Zverev got broken and fell behind by at 2-1. The following game demonstrated the courage and determination that are the hallmarks of the style of Alcaraz.

Zverev (who debated over a line call during an Alcaraz second serve which the German claimed afterward was not his as per an unverified video analysiscould have at least four breakpoints. He was unable in converting any. Alcaraz did not let him down, and he won the game by launching an unintentional drop shot.

The crowd cheered. Alcaraz put his left index finger in his ear and threw his racket. He broke once more for 5-5, and then served the ball and laid it on his back, securing his shirt in claythe same way as Nadal frequently did following the championship point.

Alcaraz first began to learn how to play tennis on the rusty surface however, he claims he prefers courts made of hard clay. Alcaraz has said he’s dreamed for a long time back of putting his nomenclature to that of Spanish athletes who have won the tournament, which included his coach, the 2003 world champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

And those yellow and red Spanish flags that were an annual feature in Court Philippe Chatrier in the time of Nadal was again there on the other day, this time for Alcaraz. What’s the distinction? The cry of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” were now “Car-los! Car-los!”