For 5 hours and 29 minutes, the Roland Garros final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner didn’t feel like sport—it felt like theatre. Blood, sweat, and a plotline worthy of a Netflix special. The youngest rivalry in men’s tennis gave us one of the most unforgettable Grand Slam finals in recent memory.
Sinner, calm as a glacier, took the first two sets. The world no. 1 looked ready to lift his third consecutive major. Alcaraz? He looked shaky, off rhythm. Lost the third set 4-6. And then… pure chaos. Serving at 3-5, 0-40 in the fourth, Alcaraz was three points away from losing it all. Bas, wahi moment tha. The Spaniard saved three championship points, flipped the energy of the match, and dragged the set into a tiebreak—which he won.
Fifth set? One-way traffic. Alcaraz stormed through the super tiebreak 10-2, clinching the match 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 6-7. He became just the third man in the Open Era to save a championship point and still win a Slam. And only the third this century to defend the Roland Garros title after Kuerten and Nadal. Iconic? Yes.
But… greatest comeback ever? Hold on. Let’s talk history.
Lisa Raymond’s Wild Resurrection – 2004 French Open
Round one. Raymond vs Ľubomíra Kurhajcová. Lisa was down 0-6, 0-5, and facing two match points. Dead and buried, right? But tennis said, “Wait, plot twist.” Raymond somehow clawed her way back, saving both match points, taking the second set 7-5, and then winning the third 6-3. From 0-6, 0-5 down to victory? Insane.
Chanda Rubin’s Nine Lives – 1995 French Open
Rubin vs Jana Novotna. Final set, Novotna leads 5-0, 40-0. NINE match points. Rubin saved them all. It’s not even a comeback, it’s resurrection. She battled back to win the third 8-6, leaving Novotna stunned and the crowd in disbelief.
Carlos gave us Parisian poetry in motion. But when it comes to the greatest tennis comeback ever, it’s the women who rewrote history when everyone thought it was over.
