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There are moments in sports where fans can sense that history is unfolding. On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner let fans sit in that blissful moment for a long time.
Alcaraz prevailed over Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) in the French Open final Sunday in a 5-hour, 29-minute final, the longest final ever at Roland-Garros. The previous French Open record was 4 hours and 42 minutes set in 1982 between Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas.
It was also the second-longest Grand Slam final in history, behind the 2012 Australian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal that lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes.
Alcaraz, the world No. 2 who won for the second straight year at Roland-Garros, also took home a tournament record of $2.9 million, bringing the 22-year-old’s career earnings to about $44.7 million. Sinner, who will leave Paris still as the world No. 1, added $1.4 million to bring his career earnings to around $41.5 million.
It looked as though Sinner had the match won after taking a two-set-to-none lead. Alcaraz won the third set, but Sinner had three championship points up 5–3 in the fourth set before the Spaniard mounted a miraculous comeback.
Sinner is now 0–6 in matches over four hours.
Gauff Ends U.S. Drought
On the women’s side, Coco Gauff snapped a decade-long drought for Americans at the French Open after defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, on Saturday. The last American to win at Roland-Garros was Serena Williams in 2015.
The 21-year-old Gauff also won $2.9 million, bringing her career earnings to about $27.3 million.
An American woman has now won the first two majors of 2025 after Madison Keys prevailed at the Australian Open. Wimbledon is up next, beginning June 30, and takes over as the longest drought for a U.S. player, as Williams was the last American to win it back in 2016.
TNT Gets Year 1 Gift
Viewership numbers for the French Open have yet to be released, but the weekend’s final matches are likely to bring strong numbers for Warner Bros. Discovery in the first year of its 10-year, $650 million media deal for the tournament.
Americans always provide a huge local viewership draw, and Gauff is the biggest name of them all. Meanwhile, Alcaraz and Sinner delivered an instant classic, and the match length gave TNT Sports extended run time with increased viewership.
It’s a nice consolation prize, which comes a week after TNT aired its final NBA game.
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