Alcaraz wins Roland Garros 2024

At 21, Alcaraz is the youngest player to win a Grand Slam on three different surfaces. Only seven men's tennis players have achieved this feat: Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander, Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Alcaraz, who won the 2022 US Open, 2023 Wimbledon and 2024 Roland Garros.

Just like in the semi-final against Sinner, Alcaraz lost two of the first three sets, before coming back strongly. He won 12 of 15 games in the final two sets against Zverev, thanks to many beautiful points.

The ability to capitalize on break points was a big difference between the two players. Alcaraz converted nine of 16 service game opportunities and saved 17 of 23 service game chances. The highlight was the fourth game of the fifth set, when the Spaniard held the game despite being down 0-40.

That game gave Alcaraz a 3-1 lead and left Zverev with little hope of a comeback in the final set. The German then missed another break point in the sixth game, before losing 2-6 in the deciding set and giving up his racket after 4 hours and 19 minutes.

Alcaraz had dominated the first set, winning 6-3, but could not maintain his lead and lost the second set 2-6. At times, Zverev made Alcaraz falter, thanks to his tenacious defense and good angle attacks. At the end of the third set, when he was down 2-5, Zverev won five games in a row to turn the situation around, in which he repeatedly counterattacked well at key points.

Many Alcaraz fans were worried when he had to call for medical attention repeatedly, at a time when he was having a difficult time with the score. However, the Spaniard dispelled these worries with a fourth set that was superior to Zverev. In this set, Alcaraz won the serve game early, played better and better, and won 6-1.

Zverev was at a mental disadvantage entering the fifth set and lost his serve early. He had several chances to come back, but failed to capitalize. When he led 40-15 in the second return game, Zverev called a double fault on Alcaraz, but the umpire said no. Several arguments with the umpire also wore down the fourth seed's composure. He lost another serve game and had to watch as Alcaraz finished the match with a powerful cross-court forehand.

Alcaraz came to Roland Garros with a lot of doubts, having dropped out of the Rome Masters in mid-May due to an arm injury. But he played better and better as the tournament went on, becoming the seventh Spanish player to win Roland Garros. His coach, former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, was one of the previous six. The record for Roland Garros titles also belongs to Spain, with Nadal having won 14 times.