Jannik Sinner Explains Deja Vu Reliving Wimbledon Nightmare in Roland Garros Final Against Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik SInner had chances in the fourth and fifth set to clinch the Roland Garros final victory.

Jannik Sinner Explains Deja Vu Reliving Wimbledon Nightmare in Roland Garros Final Against Carlos Alcaraz

Jannik Sinner (Image via X/Jannik Sinner HQ)

Beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland-Garros final on Sunday, when he led two sets to love, Jannik Sinner was asked in a press conference about another “comeback” suffered, against Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2022 (5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2). Sinner, then the 10th seed, gave a major scare to the three-time defending champion.

Djokovic, however, went on to win the tournament, defeating Nick Kyrgios in the final. Sinner, now World No.1, denied comparing that occasion with his Roland Garros defeat on Sunday. He defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the semifinals to reach his first Grand Slam final outside of hard court.

The Italian was on the brink of winning the title after clinching the first two sets of the final and setting up three championship points in the fourth set. However, Sinner failed to save those points, as Alcaraz fought back resiliently with great mental fortitude, taking the set to tiebreak and winning it.

It’s different. I was at a different point in my career. It helped me a lot to see how quickly things can change. But when Novak raised his level that day, I felt like I had no chance. You know, it was different. Today, I had chances. I was down in the third set. I was down in the fourth. I had three match points. I was serving for the match. I came back. At 6–5, I also had chances in the fifth set. So I had so many chances that I didn’t know how to take advantage of. There are days like that. You really can’t do anything. So it was a different match.

The three-time Grand Slam champion came close to victory again in the fifth set, after he turned a 3-5 deficit into a 6-5 lead, but the Spaniard held serve to take the set to tiebreak again. Alcaraz broke Sinner seven times and swarmed over the Italian’s second serve to take control of the decider tie-break, dominating it to win his fifth Grand Slam title with a scoreline of 4-6, 6(4)-7 (7), 6-4, 7(7)-6(3), 7(10)-6(2).

Jannik Sinner faced his first defeat in a Grand Slam final

There was a lot at stake for Jannik Sinner with the Roland Garros finals. He had become the only person after Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray to reach three consecutive Grand Slam finals.

Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (3)
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/Univers Tennis)

It marked the first Grand Slam final between Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner. The match exceeded the hype, with every game being absolutely thrilling as both fought back hard in the longest Roland Garros final in the history of the tournament. The World No.1 was in excellent form after returning from his three-month doping suspension, reaching the finals of the Italian Open and the Roland Garros albeit facing defeat to Alcaraz on both occasions.

This marked Sinner’s first defeat in a Grand Slam final, while Alcaraz extended his perfect record of a 100% win rate at Grand Slam finals. Sinner had reached the Roland Garros finals without dropping a set en route, becoming the first person to do so since Nadal in 2020.

After this defeat, Sinner will be looking forward to level up his game in the grass season. He will be aiming to defend his title at the Halle Open, before fighting for another Grand Slam win of the season at Wimbledon. Alcaraz, will once again prove to be tough competition for the 23-year-old, as he will be entering Wimbledon as the two-time defending champion.

Also Read: Jannik Sinner reveals how he will recover from the disappointing loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland Garros final