Carlos Alcaraz makes fantastic gesture midway through French Open final | Tennis | Sport
Carlos Alcaraz showed his class midway through Sunday’s French Open final by conceding a point to opponent Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz was aiming to become the first men’s player since Rafael Nadal in 2020 to defend the singles title, having beaten Alexander Zverev in last year’s showpiece.
It got off to a shaky start, with world No.1 Sinner taking the first set 6-4, with Alcaraz looking skittish at times. The Sinner dominance continued into the second set, with the Italian establishing an unlikely 4-1 lead against the reigning French Open champion.
Despite being up against it, Alcaraz remained classy throughout, and in the second set, he earned plaudits for his sportsmanship after conceding what appeared to be a tight point following a Sinner serve that was called out. The Spanish star went up to the mark on the clay court, inspected it for a brief moment before walking away, having accepted his fate.
Reacting to the incident on TNT Sport’s commentary panel, Jim Courier said: “He’s going to call that one good and that is an ace [for Sinner]. Good sportsmanship has been nothing but on display for Carlos.”
Courier went on to mention the moment of sportsmanship earlier in the tournament when Alcaraz alerted the umpire his racket had left his hand during a shot he won in the match against Ben Shelton. Even Shelton had been left confused by the little-known rule that had earned him a point against the four-time Grand Slam champion.
When asked about the move, Alcaraz said afterwards: “I have to say, I thought, ‘OK, I could not say anything,’ but I would have felt guilty if I didn’t say anything about it.
“It’s just about if I know that I didn’t or I did a wrong thing, wrong shots or an illegal shot, I have to say. I have to be honest with myself. I have to be honest with Ben, with everyone.”
Despite fighting back and taking the set to a tiebreaker, Alcaraz’s goodwill wasn’t able to help him take the second set. Sinner held his nerve to win the breaker and take the second set, giving him a commanding advantage in the French Open final.
