Spanish World No.3 Carlos Alcaraz defeated Germany's Alexander Zverev in a five-set thriller to clinch his maiden French Open title. The Spaniard has become the seventh from his nation to win a Roland Garros title as he enters the list featuring Rafael Nadal and his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. Alcaraz won the game 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Alcaraz bagged the first set with ease as he broke the German's serve three times. Zverev hardly had any answers for Alcaraz's game but it changes in the second set. Zverev dug deep and found out a way to level the match, winning the second set with an improved serve. Alcaraz was well and truly on the way to grabbing the third set too and moving 2-1 up in the match but the German made a stunning comeback from 2-5 down to win five games on the trot and clinch the third one 7-5. Zverev led the match with a 2-1 lead.
But Alcaraz then gave nothing away to Zverev and despite calling a medical timeout, he hung himself extremely well to win the fourth one 6-1. The Spaniard then was right on the money in the decider after bringing things level at 2-2. He held his serve and broke Zverev twice to romp home 6-2.
Overall, Alcaraz broke Zverev nine times, while the German found the break six times in the game. Zverev struggled on the second serve, winning only 39% of his second serve. He was more successful with the first serve, winning 63% of them. Alcaraz had a success percent of 65 on his first serve and 54 on his second.
"First of all I want to congratulate Sasha (Zverev). I know about everything you have been through over the past year and I know how much of a warrior you are. I wish you all the best for the future," Alcaraz said after the win.
"I want to thank my team who has been a big part of this journey. I know we say we are a team but we are one family. The crowd has been great since the first match. Not only in the matches but also in the practice sessions as well. You guys made me feel right at home. I will see you all soon," he concluded.
"Congratulations Carlos (Alcaraz). Winning three different slams on three different courts at 21 years old is amazing. You are already a hall of famer and this is not going to be your final trophy at this court," Zverev said after the loss.
