Carlos Alcaraz understands better than most the emotional weight of high-profile matches. After his victory over Jannik Sinner in the 2025 Roland Garros final, Alcaraz acknowledged just how hard it can be to bounce back from a loss on that kind of stage.
The match became the second-longest Grand Slam final in Open Era history, lasting 5 hours and 29 minutes.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the grass-court season, Carlos Alcaraz was asked whether he could relate to how his rival Jannik Sinner struggled emotionally after that grueling French Open defeat.
“Well, depends on the matches,” Carlos Alcaraz said. “There were a few matches, really long matches that I have lost, and yeah, I just left the court by myself with the head up, and I didn’t need too much time to recover from that. And there were other matches that it was really tough to deal with.”
“I know that day for him, that final was pretty tough to deal with after all mentally,” he further added. “From my experience, some matches that I have lost, I took three, four days just to recover mentally. Physically, as well, if it was demanding physically. So two or three days minimum just to recover from a really tough loss.”
Alcaraz, who turned 22 in May, is already a five-time Grand Slam champion, matching the pace of his childhood idol, Rafael Nadal.
As Sinner regroups and looks ahead to the upcoming Wimbledon Championships, Alcaraz’s seem to be getting a good hang of handling defeats with utmost strength and positivity.
Both young stars are expected to headline the next decade of tennis, and if their Roland Garros final was any indication, the rivalry is just heating up.