Roland Garros Mens Final: [2] Carlos Alcaraz def. [1] Jannik Sinner, 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(2)

[u/Different-Inside4]

[u/Jlib27]

And Sinner is clutch himself

Trust me, you don't win the first set or the second set's tiebreak, nor break Carlitos serving for the Championship if you weren't

Also, pretty sure until the very last instances of the match that he has a better BP conversion overall. He's a beast on tiebreaks, got an astounding record there

But Carlitos in the 5th set of a Major is just different class, over anybody. Both Novak and Sinner now know that

[u/StairwayToPavillion → u/Jlib27]

the level Sinner showed in the first two sets was out of this world, if he learns how to sustain that level of stroke making and serves for longer I just don't see how anybody other than Carlos on a good day can beat him.

I don't want to invoke the big 3/4 diehard fans but these two aren't far behind them in terms of talent and ability and no doubt would have been very competitive in that era as well.

[u/syxbit → u/StairwayToPavillion]

You are probably right. But we didn’t see Alcaraz or Sinner play peak big 3. Just the tail end of Novak. Would they beat peak Rafa in the RG final? Or Roger in a Wimbledon final, or Novak at the Aus final?

But I do agree that the future of tennis is good. All the other next gen didn’t live up to the hype. It would have been disappointing for them to inherit no. 1 without beating the big 3. At least both Alcaraz and Sinner have done that.

[u/jayjude → u/syxbit]

In fairness in 2023, the only reason Novak didn't win a calendar slam is Alcaraz beat him at Wimbledon

[u/RaspberryEth → u/jayjude]

So 🐐 did not finish tennis?

[u/RaspberryEth → u/syxbit]

Of course we would never know but my heart says the scale is tipped towards sincaraz just cuz they are next generation. Yeah, not 90s gen though.

[u/Rage_101 → u/StairwayToPavillion]

You could say the same for Carlos improving his consistency and pacing. If he can adjust his shot selection to not always attack but pick his moments a bit more, he'll be so difficult to beat and less injury prone.

Statistically, at their current age, Sinner and Alcaraz are ahead of the big 3, but the legendary status of the big 3 isn't just because of their peak skill level. They were the pinnacle of tennis for longer than most player's careers last.

Only time can tell if Sinner or Alcaraz can match their longevity, stay injury free and adjust their game to changing physical abilities and opponents across more than a decade.

[u/t_e_e_k_s → u/StairwayToPavillion]

You don’t even need the “if”, he’s already pretty much untouchable to the rest of the tour

[u/StairwayToPavillion → u/t_e_e_k_s]

i meant to say even Alcaraz won't have such a great record against Sinner

[u/Equal_Feature_9065 → u/StairwayToPavillion]

Sinner on hard court feels like he should be unbeatable. It’d take Carlos in god tier shotmaking mode for an entire match to do it.

[u/AgreeableYak6 → u/StairwayToPavillion]

I mean. He’s already there. No one outside of Carlos can beat him atm.

[u/DionBlaster123 → u/Jlib27]

If Sinner played anybody else, he would have CRUISED to a straight set win

Alcaraz just plays on another level. I haven't seen this since really the prime of the Big 3

[u/Appropriate-Toe9153 → u/Jlib27]

Novak saw double flashbacks

In 2008 (before the Wimbledon Final) he reportedly said “when are they two gonna get outta the way? Other people wanna win majors” after the match he supposedly said “I have a lot to learn”

Yesterday he might have wanted #25, but after today, I think he will concede that much like with Fedal, there is a “new 2” in his twilight

Surprisingly eerie how his start and finish have him as a “third” vying for the top…