Carlos Alcaraz was made to sweat but clinched his first French Open title by outlasting Alexander Zverev 6-3 2-6 5-7 6-1 6-2 in Sunday's final at Roland Garros. The 21-year-old filled a Rafael Nadal-sized void at Roland Garros with a marathon victory in four hours and 19 minutes. Fourth seed Zverev had sent old warrior Nadal out on his shield for probably the last time in the first round.
But young pretender Alcaraz vanquished the German to join fellow Spaniard Nadal as the only men to lift the Roland Garros trophy aged under 22. The youngest man ever to become World No. 1 (19 years, 4 months, 6 days old).
The youngest man ever to win a Grand Slam title on all three surfaces (21 years, 1 month, 3 days old). The first man to win his first three major titles on three different surfaces. "It was a great journey, these last two weeks.
It's a tournament I wanted to win since I was a little kid - when I watched this tournament since five or six - so this is a dream come true," the Spaniard told Eurosport. "It was difficult, Zverev played great tennis, he put great pressure on me with his serves. I won the first set but I could have really lost it.
It was tricky with the wind and the surface but we have to find a way and adapt our games to the conditions." The Spaniard became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam title on all three surfaces, adding the Paris clay to his hard-court US Open success and last year's win on the Wimbledon grass. How Carlos Alcaraz claimed his maiden French.