(In Images) Andre Agassi Becomes Emotional Witnessing the Longest Roland Garros Final Between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Until the 2025 Roland Garros final, Carlos Alcaraz had never won a best-of-five match in his career after losing the opening two sets.

(In Images) Andre Agassi Becomes Emotional Witnessing the Longest Roland Garros Final Between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner

Andre Agassi with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (images via X)

Clocking 5 hours and 29 minutes, the 2025 Roland Garros men’s singles final was the longest in the tournament’s history, surpassing the previous record of the 1982 final played between Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas which lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes. It is also the second-longest Grand Slam final overall, after the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal which lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes.

It was a thrilling five-set battle between the World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz who had met for the first time in a Grand Slam final and fought resiliently and pushed each other to the limit. Alcaraz did the unbelievable by saving three championship points in the fourth set, becoming the third man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam after saving championship points, after Gaston Gaudio at the 2004 Roland Garros and Djokovic at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

Until today, Alcaraz had never won a best-of-five match in his career after losing the opening two sets. With Alcaraz sealing the victory 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6, this final will go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest and most memorable tennis matches of our time, perhaps the best so far after the Big 3 era.

Amongst many members in the audience, the match was graced by tennis great Andre Agassi whose eyes welled up with tears by the end of the match. He won his maiden Roland Garros title in 1999 defeating Andrei Medvedev in the final.

With this triumph, he accomplished the career Golden Slam, the first of three men’s singles players to do so followed by Nadal and Djokovic. Akin to the 2025 champion Alcaraz, Agassi also came down from two sets to win the 1999 finals.

Carlos Alcaraz wins an epic five set battle at Roland Garros

The first set saw both players holding serve initially. At 1-1, despite some great drop shots, Carlos Alcaraz failed to convert break points. He soon broke Jannik Sinner to lead 3-2 but the Italian fought back quickly. Trailing at 5-4, Alcaraz sought medical help to address what seemed to be some dust irritating the eye, before Sinner shortly clinched the first set.

Jannik Sinner Carlos Alcaraz Roland Garros French Open 2025
Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz (image via Roland Garros)

Sinner took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Alcaraz got a vital hold. Trailing at 5-2, Alcaraz held serve and won the next three games to level the score to 5-5. Sinner won the next game and Alcaraz held serve to force the tie-breaker, albeit losing it.

Alcaraz shifted the momentum somewhat in the third set. At 1-1, Alcaraz went on to win the next four games, capitalizing on Sinner’s errors. Leading at 5-4, Alcaraz broke Sinner to finally win his first set of the match.

The thrill began to peak at the fourth set. The set started with both players holding serve, until SInner finally broke Alcaraz to lead 4-3. Sinner was close to winning the match, but Alcaraz showed immense mental fortitude delivering an unbelievable performance.

Trailing at 5-3, the Spaniard hit a forehand winner down the line saving the first of his three championship points. At 4-5, his drop shot earned two break points, which he successfully converted to level the score to 5-5. He once again broke Sinner to take a 6-5 lead. Sinner however, quickly forced a tiebreak. Although Sinner had a 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, Alcaraz fiercely fought back to win the tiebreak.

Both players looked were visibly very tired in the fifth set which started off with Alcaraz taking a 2-0 lead. Trailing at 5-3, Sinner held serve and fought back to win the next three games. At 6-5, he once again raised the tension, shifting the momentum towards him, although Alcaraz once again fought back, hitting a cross-court winner to force a tiebreak which he dominated. With this victory, Alcaraz successfully defended his Roland Garros title, clinching his fifth Grand Slam title

Also Read: Carlos Alcaraz Breaks 48-Year History by Saving Three Championship Points to Defend his Roland Garros Title Against Jannik Sinner