French Open 2025 men’s final: Jannik Sinner v Carlos Alcaraz - tennis live

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now 09.42 EDT Sinner 1-0 Alcaraz (*denotes server) A long rally which Alcaraz wins when Sinner nets, but he then directs a forehand cross into the tape; 15-all. Alcaraz, though, then gets his forehand going, making 15-30, only to then overhit; we wind up at deuce, Sinner saving a break point at 30-40. But up advantage, Sinner slams a forehand into the net, then at deuce swipes a back wide; break point Alcaraz, who steps well into court when there’s a second serve en route. It does him no good, but he soon works another opportunity, stepping inside the baseline and thwacking away with forehands until he makes advantage. Sinner, though, does not panic, lanking in to retrieve a tame drop before flipping a backhand winner down the line; if ever a game augured well, this is it, and eventually Sinner hangs on. Share

19m ago 09.23 EDT Alcaraz wins the toss; he elects to receive. Share

22m ago 09.20 EDT Each player wears a dreadful Nike collared shirt. No need for it, no need for it at all. Share

23m ago 09.19 EDT “I am going for an Alcaraz win because it’s in the stars,” says Prakhar Gupta. “Nadal was 22 years one month and three days old when he won his fifth Grand Slam and so is Alcaraz today. I mean what could be more prophetic!!” Share

34m ago 09.08 EDT We seem to be running a little behind, but we’ll be welcoming our players soon. It’s a little windy and the roof is open; that should favour Alcaraz, as a still atmosphere helps the cleaner, straighter hitter. Share

36m ago 09.05 EDT I wonder where Alcaraz will stand today. Against Musetti, he was looking to get into court, and he might feel taking the ball early gives him the best chance of breaking even if some service-games pass him by. Or he may slide back a little for a better look. Share

45m ago 08.57 EDT Sinner reckons Alcaraz is the favourite, but notes he’s improving on clay. He’s moving better and more confident and knows that if he serves well he’s very difficult to beat. If he can get his line forehand going too, he’s almost unbeatable. Share

52m ago 08.49 EDT “Wondering how the doubles have gone in Paris,” begins Andrew Benton. “The dear old doubles always seems to get scant coverage, but games are so nice to watch.” I couldn’t agree more. I had the privilege of interviewing Henry Patten a few weeks ago, and that was one of the things he expounded upon. ‘Doubles is absolute carnage’: meet Henry Patten, GB’s unsung Wimbledon champion Read more Henry and Harri went out on the quarters this time – the title went to Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos – while Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani won the women’s with Errani and Andrea Vavassori taking the mixed. Share

1h ago 08.42 EDT “Alcaraz has won every slam final he has played in,” writes Peter Slessenger. Federer won his first seven slam finals. That is quite some target to aim at. Looking forward to the match and hoping for that smile!” Sinner has too, but both times on hards, whereas Alcaraz’s three have come on the slippier surfaces, clay and grass. He’s the better mover, as we said before, but he doesn’t hit as powerfully or as cleanly, so he’ll need to work angles to prevent the Italian planting his feet and sitting down on his shots.

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1h ago 08.38 EDT If we go deep, Alcaraz will be favourite – he’s 12-1 over five-setters, whereas Sinner is 6-9. More than that, though, Sinner is the slight underdog, yet to win this competition so not certain he can. That makes him less likely to come from behind, though of course it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he did because he’s capable of almost anything. Share

1h ago 08.28 EDT Email from yesterday, via Joel Smith: “I am so disappointed, and frankly angry, at Sabalenka’s extremely ungracious runner up speech at Roland Garros!! So disrespectful to Coco and the occasion. This is on the heels of Sabalenka smashing her racquets at the Aussie Open after losing to Madison Keys, which was totally unacceptable. Imagine if Serena or Coco behaved this poorly, they’d be castigated as a sore loser so, I hope the press and tennis community doesn’t give Sabalenka a free pass! Sabalenka acting like she was entitled to this title is so unbecoming and although I like her personality, she about to lose me as a supporter. How dare she ran on this classy young lady’s win.” I dunno. I know what you mean but I appreciated her honesty – when I watch sport, I want a window into people’s souls a lot more than I want anodyne platitudes. Sabalenka was hurting bad and she told us why and how she planned to handle it; I must prefer that to a taking the positives glib-fest, much as I love and respect Gauff. Share

1h ago 08.23 EDT TNT have Mac and Chrissy in the studio. You know what? Loz the match, let’s just listen to those two talk tennis for the rest of the afternoon. I’m the right age for this, but imagine being that gifted with a racket in hand, and also this funny, kind, insightful and charismatic. Share

1h ago 08.21 EDT It’s hard to argue with that isn’t it? And yet I’d still like to have seen better performances from Alcaraz over the fortnight, who was in trouble against Musetti for the best part of two sets. He plays like that today, it’s not close … and yet he’s so good at hitting whatever level he requires to win. Moreover, his win in Rome came in Sinner’s first match tournament back after his drug ban; he’s fitter, sharper and more confident now. Oh man, what a contest we’re in for. Share

1h ago 08.17 EDT I know we don’t know who’s going to win but … who’s going to win? I’ve been leaning Sinner because his game has the fewer moving parts and he’s in the better form. But Coach Calv, our resident expert, knows plenty more than me ands is backing Alcaraz: “He’s won their last four meetings, won on this court last year, and has a bit more to his game: he moves better, volleys better, and has more change-up – drops, slices,. angles. The game could do with Sinner winning probably, can’t have a rivalry if it’s totally one-sided, though I guess people still talk about Keane-Vieira as a rivalry, even though it wasn’t.” Share Updated at 08.17 EDT

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