Several TNT Sports tennis experts were left stunned by the thrilling French Open final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The Spaniard battled back from two sets down to win the thrilling clash 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2) and retain his title. After the match, Boris Becker compared the final to the classic encounters contested between tennis’ fabled ‘Big Three’.
TNT Sports expert Boris Becker believes Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s thrilling French Open final was of the same standard as the classic encounters between the sport’s fabled ‘Big Three’.
Alcaraz battled back from two sets down to win one of the best Grand Slam finals in living memory 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2) and retain his title in Paris.
The match echoed some of the iconic encounters between Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who went head-to-head on 33 occasions over the last two decades.
Becker believes Alcaraz and Sinner are at the same level as their legendary predecessors after putting on a show at Roland-Garros.
“It’s brutal for Sinner,” he said. “Losing a final with match points, served for the match. There’s nothing worse, but he can be proud of his performance.
“He behaved like a champion, fought and played his best clay court match to date. That will happen again, maybe Jannik will be the luckier one next time.
“It was the same with Federer, Djokovic and Nadal. What epic duels they’ve had over 15 years, and that’s exactly the level I see Carlos and Jannik at.
“The match was unbelievable, I feel for both players. These are the matches you train for and why you love this sport.”
The victory means Alcaraz now has five Grand Slams to his name. It also extends the Spaniard’s unbeaten run against his Italian rival to five matches.
Becker’s fellow TNT Sports expert Alex Corretja thanked the duo for one of the best tennis matches he’d ever seen live and called Alcaraz’s win a miracle.
“Thank you to both of them,” he said. “It was a little bit of a miracle for Carlos to end up winning as Jannik had it and was playing perfect tennis.
“But this was by far the best match I’ve ever witnessed live. The level of tennis was something unreal.
“It’s a great lesson for the kids at home, the way they were behaving and the attitude, no excuses for five-and-a-half hours.
“Finding solutions, hitting the ball perfectly, I can’t thank them enough.
“It’s not just that it was long, it’s the way they played and were moving.
“The way they were searching for different tactics and wanted to win badly but with huge respect.
“They gave 100%. It’s a bit of a shame, for the first time in my life that I would’ve loved to see a draw.”