French Open 2024: Carlos Alcaraz clinches title after five-set thriller with Alexander Zverev

ByOli Gent

Updated 09/06/2024 at 19:29 GMT

Carlos Alcaraz clinched a maiden French Open title with a thrilling five-set victory over Alexander Zverev. The 21-year-old secured the third Grand Slam crown of his career with a 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 win over the German fourth seed. The Spaniard, the reigning Wimbledon champion, came back from a set down twice to beat Zverev in over four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Carlos Alcaraz won his maiden French Open title with an enthralling five-set victory over Alexander Zverev. 

The 21-year-old came back from two sets to one down, defeating the German 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in over four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier to add the Roland-Garros crown to his US Open and Wimbledon titles. 

After four hours and 19 minutes, the Paris crowd had a new champion to cheer, with Alcaraz following in the footsteps of his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who has won a record 14 French Opens.

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The third seed crashed a forehand cross-court on championship point, with the sliding Zverev only able to return into the net, prompting Alcaraz to collapse to the clay in celebration.

"When I finished school, I put the TV on just to watch this tournament, and now I’m lifting the trophy in front of all of you, so thank you very much for the whole journey," Alcaraz said.

"[With] the crowd has been a great journey since the first match until today. I have good words [for] you guys. The support has been unbelievable; not only in the matches but in practice as well. I feel at home. You made this tournament so special, and I’ll see you soon."

The third seed had exploded out of the blocks, breaking Zverev in the first game, but the German hit back straight after to level the scores. 

Alcaraz broke to love at 3-2 and saw out the opening set confidently, thundering a forehand winner to snare first blood. 

Zverev, the fourth seed, began to control the second set, breaking at 3-2 with Alcaraz miscuing a forehand, before the Spaniard uncharacteristically double-faulted to make it 5-2 and give the German a double-break cushion, and he crunched a forehand winner to level proceedings. 

The pair traded holds for the first six games of the third, before Alcaraz began to put his foot down on the accelerator, conjuring more ferocity off his forehand wing to break at 4-2, before holding under pressure to make it 5-2 and move to within a game of a two sets to one lead. 

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However, Zverev fought back to get the match back on serve, with a sizzling backhand pass to break back, a shot that had Alcaraz throwing himself to the Parisian dirt with his racquet flailing. 

Zverev held to love as his confidence grew, and the German utilised his momentum to then break, with the Spaniard netting a backhand. 

Stunning net defence from Zverev teed up his set point, dictating with his groundstrokes from side to side, before delivering a vicious drive-volley that Alcaraz could only hit into the net. 

Alcaraz had been two sets to one down against Jannik Sinner in his semi-final, and he dug deep in a bid to seal the same result. 

A comfortable hold was followed up by a breathtaking curling forehand winner down the line to seal the service break, consolidated by a love-hold. 

He broke once more with an exquisite drop shot to make it 4-0, but Zverev kept a foothold in the set with a break back immediately after. 

However, Alcaraz regained his composure to crack his opponent’s serve once more, drawing level as Zverev netted a drop shot. 

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The third game of the decider was a wretched one for Zverev, as his unforced errors shot up and Alcaraz raced into a 40-0 lead, breaking to love as the fourth seed planted a backhand long. 

Zverev continued to apply pressure as best he could, serving big and rushing the net to make Alcaraz as uncomfortable as possible.

But the star quality of the Spaniard was just too good, as, at 4-2, he produced a sensational flicked backhand pass to tee up three break points, before ripping a forehand down the line to give himself a chance to serve for the championship. 

He did so assuredly with quality; a big serve and long Zverev return setting up two championship points. A final angled forehand sealed the title, prompting Alcaraz to drop to the red Parisian dirt in celebration.

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