Carlos Alcaraz shows incredible fight in Roland Garros title

 

                                              (Credit: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters) 

 (2) Carlos Alcaraz defeated (1) Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 to win the men's singles title at Roland Garros. It is Alcaraz's fifth grand slam title and his second consecutive French Open title. Despite getting down 0-2, Alcaraz came back to win three straight sets, crushing Sinner's soul in the process. It was an unbelievable performance that I think is the greatest yet that we've ever seen from Alcaraz. 

Coming back down from 0-2 down is simply amazing, but what made it even more incredible is it was the longest final in the history of the French Open. The amount of fight that Alcaraz showed was on another level. So many times he could have thrown in the towel and given up, but he dug deep and found a way to pull it out in the end. He even had to fend off three championship points. 

A major reason why Alcaraz was able to pull off the comeback was his ability to up his aggression. In the first two sets, he and Sinner were tied with 20 winners each. In the final three sets, Alcaraz was +17 in winners (50-33). His ability to take more chances and not allow Sinner to control the pace made a huge difference. Had Alcaraz not played with that same level of aggression in the final three sets, he wouldn't have pulled this out. 

Of course, even with that increased aggression, it was still a dogfight until the very end with the final two sets being tiebreakers. Sinner made Alcaraz earn it. This was not a case of Sinner choking. This was the two best players in the world going at it and unfortunately only one of them can win. 

What makes this title extra special for Alcaraz is the fact that fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal was honored before the tournament with a special ceremony and unveiling of a plaque that bears his footprint and record number of Roland Garros titles (14) on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Winning the French Open this year is the best tribute that Alcaraz could have given to Nadal. That I'm sure has to feel very satisfying. 

All around, this was a fantastic two weeks for Carlos Alcaraz. He's quickly establishing himself as an all-time great and he's only 22 years of age. It's just getting started for him and that's something that should have the rest of the ATP Tour shaking in their boots. 

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Coco Gauff finally goes the distance at Roland Garros

                                              (Credit: Thibuad Moritz/AFP via Getty Images) 

In the women's singles final (2) Coco Gauff defeated (1) Aryna Sabalenka 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 to win the 2025 French Open at Roland Garros. It is Gauff's second career grand slam title and first French Open title. Gauff's first grand slam title came at the 2023 US Open in which she also defeated Sabalenka in three sets: 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. 

At just 21 years of age, Gauff is one of the best all-around players in the game. A lot of American players her age struggle away from the hard courts, but due to spending a lot of time on the clay growing up, Gauff is perhaps even better and more comfortable on the clay. What really allowed her to beat Sabalenka was her patience and ability to let Sabalenka be the one to make mistakes. Sabalenka had 70 unforced errors during the match to Gauff's 30. Of the 119 points she won, 58.8% were due to those unforced errors by Sabalenka. That is a crazy stat.

Even though she grew up playing a lot of clay tournaments, Gauff still had to pay her dues to win her first French Open. In 2019, she didn't get out of the qualifying rounds. In 2020, she lost in the second round. In 2021, she reached the quarterfinals. In 2022, she reached the final, making it seem like a French Open title was imminent. But then in 2023, she lost in the quarterfinals and then in 2024 she lost in the semifinals. We all knew she was knocking on the door, but there were still questions about when she would break through on the dirt. Make no mistake, Gauff has worked extremely hard to improve her clay court tennis and she finally got rewarded by winning it all this year. 

In some respects, the final was a microcosm of what Gauff's Roland Garros journey has been like. She could have thrown in the towel after dropping that first set, but instead she kept on fighting and believing. She trusted the process and her approach to the game without wavering. Such an approach is especially beneficial on clay. If she keeps playing like this, I definitely see more French Open titles in her future. 

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Top 5 contenders entering second week of 2025 Roland Garros: Women's singles

 

                                             (Aryna Sabalenka. Credit: Getty Images) 

The second week of the French Open at Roland Garros is about to get started and there are 16 women left in the draw. Click here to check out the draw if you haven't already done so. Below is my list of top five contenders left on the women's side. Click here to check out who I got on the men's side. Okay, away we go! 

#1. Iga Świątek (Poland): Iga Świątek is the No. 5 seed in the tournament, but she's still number one on my list of contenders. She's a four-time champion at Roland Garros, having won three straight titles. She hasn't dropped a set all tournament and is really on cruise control through three rounds. It will get tougher for her starting with her fourth round match against No. 12 Elena Rybakina, but so long as she's still in the tournament, Swiatek has to be my favorite to win it all on the women's side. 

#2. Jasmine Paolini (Italy): Jasmine Paolini is the No. 4 seed in the tournament, but she's number two on my list of contenders. She reached the final at Roland Garros last year and is coming in with a lot of momentum having won the Italian Open in Rome. If Swiatek is going to go down to anybody, Paolini in the quarterfinals would be my bet. It's a shame they couldn't at least meet in the semifinals, but the draws go off the rankings and this is what we got. 

#3. Coco Gauff (United States): Coco Gauff is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and has proven herself to be a dangerous clay court player. She reached the final in 2022 at Roland Garros and during this clay season, she reached the final in Madrid and Rome. She's got a pretty favorable draw to reach the final and if she gets there, she should feel confident in her abilities to win it all. 

#4. Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus): Aryna Sabalenka comes in as the No. 1 seed, but given she's never won the French Open before, I have to have her lower on my list. She reached the semifinals back in 2023, so she's shown she can compete on the clay, but a lot of great hard court players have maxed out at that point. One thing that does help Sabalenka is her draw is pretty favorable. Her fourth round match is against No. 16 Amanda Anisimova and then her projected quarterfinal match would be against No. 8 Qinwen Zheng. Sabalenka should feel really confident in her abilities to reach the semifinals. But can she go beyond that? That's the question. 

#5. Mirra Andreeva (Russia): No. 6 Mirra Andreeva rounds out my list. She just turned 18, so she's got plenty of tennis ahead of her. Still, she's showing no signs of wanting to delay success. She reached the semifinals at Roland Garros last year and so far hasn't dropped a set this tournament. A lot of people feel she can go the distance. If she does, given her youth, that would be quite a story. 

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Top 5 contenders entering second week of 2025 Roland Garros: Men's singles

 

                                             (Jannik Sinner. Credit: Susan Mullane/Imagn Images) 

The second week of the French Open at Roland Garros is about to get started and there are 16 men left in the draw. Click here to check that out if you haven't already done so. What I will do is share who I think the top five contenders are left in the tournament based on what we have seen up to this point. Click here to see who I got on the women's side. Okay, let's dive in! 

#1. Carlos Alcaraz (Spain): Despite coming is as the No. 2 seed behind Jannik Sinner, I still have Carlos Alcaraz as the favorite to win it all. He's dropped a couple sets along the way so far to Fabian Marozsan in the second round and Damir Dzumhur in the third round, but aside from that it's been pretty smooth sailing. Honestly, Alcaraz has a pretty clear path to the final. No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz getting bounced in the first round and No. 7 seed Casper Ruud getting bounced in the second round really opened things up for Alcaraz. I expect him to take full advantage. 

#2. Jannik Sinner (Italy): No. 1 Jannik Sinner is number two on my list. He hasn't dropped a set through three rounds and is really cooking with gas right now. A quarterfinal match with No. 5 Jack Draper could get interesting should Draper get through and then No. 3 Alexander Zverev is still in it as a possible semifinal opponent. Sinner's draw is tougher than Alcaraz's draw, but he's still the favorite to reach the final on that half of the draw. It'll be interesting to see if Sinner does indeed get to the final and if he does, whether or not he drops a set or more along the way. 

#3. Jack Draper (Great Britain): Even though he's the No. 5 seed, I got Jack Draper third on my list. He is playing the best clay court tennis of his career right now, dispatching of Brazilian hot shot Joao Fonseca in straight sets in the third round. A quarterfinal match against Sinner would be tough, but given the way he's playing on the dirt, not just at Roland Garros, but all clay season (final in Madrid; quarterfinals in Rome), I think Draper has earned the right to be number three on my list. He's looking mighty dangerous or as the British like to say, the real McCoy. 

#4. Novak Djokovic (Serbia): Despite being the No. 6 seed, Novak Djokovic is looking really strong right now. He hasn't dropped a set and is a three-time French Open champion. With each passing match, he's looking more and more strong. Some might want to put Zverev ahead of Djokovic, but given Djokovic's championship pedigree, I gotta give him the nod. Djokovic is facing unseeded Cameron Norrie in the fourth round, so we should on paper see a Djokovic/Zverev quarterfinal match. That should be an interesting match should everything hold. 

#5. Alexander Zverev (Germany): Rounding out my top five is No. 3 Alexander Zverev. He reached the final last year and is still in search of his first grand slam title. He has a tough draw in front of him with Djokovic and Sinner on his half of the draw, but in order to be the best, you need to beat the best. I think the challenge for Zverev is simply having to go through those two guys to reach the final and then have the prospect of facing Carlos Alcaraz in the final. One thing is for certain: If Zverev does go all the way, he will have earned it. 

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