Destiny’s child Carlos Alcaraz treasures Rafael Nadal heritage after French Open win

PARIS – Carlos Alcaraz called it destiny as he completed a thrilling comeback to capture his fifth Grand Slam title at the French Open on June 8, drawing level with his childhood idol Rafael Nadal’s tally at the same age.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, long dubbed the heir to Nadal’s clay-court throne, fought back from two sets down for the first time in his career to lift the trophy in a match against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner that he said had everything.

“The coincidence of winning my fifth Grand Slam at the same age as Rafa Nadal, I’m going to say that’s destiny,” Alcaraz said of equalling Nadal’s tally of five Major titles at the same stage of their careers.

Nadal was one day younger when he beat Roger Federer in another final for the ages at Wimbledon in 2008 for his fifth Grand Slam title.

“It is a stat that I’m going to keep for me forever, winning the fifth Grand Slam at the same time as Rafa, my idol, my inspiration. It’s a huge honour,” said Alcaraz, who beat Italy’s Sinner in 5hr 29min, the longest French Open final in the professional era.

In a final packed with momentum swings, blistering winners, and jaw-dropping rallies, Alcaraz credited the Paris crowd for keeping him alive as he won 4-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2).

“Without them, it would have been impossible to come back. At the start of the third set, everything was going his way. I had to delete those thoughts from my mind and fight,” he said.

Alcaraz saved three match points. But the moment he singled out from the match was when he was 6-5 down in the decider and struggling, turning the game in his favour to force a super tiebreak.

“The match points were not great points. I saved match points, it’s great but the points were not good,” he said.

“At 6-5 in the fifth at 15-30 or 30-all, advantage for me, 40-all. Those points I remember pretty clear, and honestly I still don’t know how I did it.

“I mean, it was balls on the line, slicing the line. He was dominating that game. Honestly, I still don’t know how I saved that game.”

Still, with a trophy in hand and history in his pocket, Alcaraz was already looking ahead.

“Every match that I’m playing against him is important. This is the first match in a Grand Slam final. Hopefully not the last time. Because every time that we face against each other, we raise our level to the top,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sinner said he would try to “delete” the memory of his five-set loss after passing up three championship points that would have seen him pocket his first French Open title.

“Obviously, this one hurts. Yeah, there’s not so much to talk about right now,” he said. “It was a very, very high-level match, was long.

“Yeah, and it happens. We saw it in the past with other players, and today it happened to me. So we try to delete it somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways.”

It was the 23-year-old’s first defeat in a championship match at a Major. Sinner boasts three Grand Slam titles and entered the June 8 final looking to win his third successive Major after claiming the US Open last season and defending his Australian Open crown in January.

Sinner’s maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne came as he battled back from two sets down against Russian Daniil Medvedev.

In Paris, he found himself on the other side of the net as he was the one to fail to convert a 2-0 lead.

“I tried to delete everything, every set. In Grand Slams you try to start from zero again,” explained Sinner of his mindset ahead of the deciding set.

“You know, I was of course disappointed about the fourth set and match points and serving for the match. But again, I stayed there mentally. I didn’t give him any free points.

“When it was over, it was over. That’s different feeling, different things coming through your mind.

“So, yeah, you cannot change any more when the match is over. But when you start a fifth set, you can still change some things.” REUTERS, AFP