Four hours and 19 minutes. Five sets. Carlos Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in Paris on Sunday, June 9, 2024, and left Roland Garros with his first French Open title and his third Grand Slam trophy.
The number that matters most is his age. Alcaraz is 21. No man has collected majors on hard court, grass and clay at a younger age, and the old mark belonged to Rafael Nadal, who got there roughly a year and a half later in life. The Guardian put the previous record at 22 and said only seven players have ever managed all three surfaces. Alcaraz won the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2023, and he now stands 3-0 in major finals.
A match that swung twice
It did not look like a final for the first ten minutes. Both men double-faulted early, both dropped serve, and Alcaraz sent a forehand into the stands more than once. Then he settled and took the first set, only to see Zverev level it.
The third set nearly decided things. Alcaraz led 5-2, then tightened up, and Zverev, the fourth seed, ran off five games in a row to go two sets to one ahead. Alcaraz also seemed rattled by the state of the clay and told the chair umpire it was “unbelievable.”
He reset fast. He broke at the start of the fourth, won 16 of the first 21 points in it to lead 4-0, and took a medical timeout for his left leg at 4-1. From there he took 12 of the last 15 games. In the fifth set Zverev gave away his own serve at 1-1 with a string of errors. In the next game Alcaraz came back from 0-40 and finished the hold with a backhand drop shot. Zverev later earned four break points in that stretch and converted none. Alcaraz finished with 27 forehand winners, 20 more than Zverev.
“I want to be one of the best tennis players in the world, so I have to give an extra in those moments in the fifth set,” Alcaraz said afterward.
Doubts before Paris
Few would have picked this ending two weeks earlier. A forearm injury had cost him three of his four planned clay tournaments, and he turned up in Paris with little match practice. He has said he feared hitting his forehand at full force. Zverev, 27, was chasing a first major after losing the 2020 US Open final, and was gracious in defeat: “You’re already a Hall of Famer,” he told the winner, adding that this would not be Alcaraz’s last title.
Zverev had also spent the fortnight under a cloud. A Berlin court announced on the Friday before the final that a trial over an ex-girlfriend’s assault accusation from 2020 had ended in an out-of-court settlement. The Guardian noted there was no verdict and no admission of guilt.
The final was the first men’s title match at Roland Garros since 2004 without Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer. Nadal lost to Zverev in round one, Djokovic pulled out before the quarterfinals with a knee injury that needed surgery, and Federer has retired. Alcaraz, who had also come from two sets to one down against Jannik Sinner in the semifinals, hugged his parents in the stands and told them: “I am lifting this trophy in front of you.” Spanish flags filled Court Philippe Chatrier again, and the chant had changed from “Ra-fa” to “Car-los.”
Sources
- Alcaraz wins French Open for 3rd Grand Slam title
- Carlos Alcaraz outlasts Alex Zverev in five-set thriller to win French Open
