Carlos Alcaraz has cut short his celebrations in Ibiza after his incredible French Open victory in Paris. Remarkably, the 22-year-old says he is becoming too old for all-night partying. Last week, the Spanish World No. 2 defeated Jannik Sinner in the Roland Garros final in a five-set thriller during which he recovered from three championship points down in the fourth set.
At five hours and 29 minutes, the match was the longest-ever final in Paris and the second-longest Grand Slam final of all time. Such was the quality of the tennis, some observers compared it to tennis’s greatest-ever confrontations, like the Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal 2012 Australian Open final, and Djokovic and Federer’s legendary 2019 Wimbledon final.
22-year-old Alcaraz would have been forgiven for embarking on a victory tour after his win. However, the Spaniard restricted his celebrations to a single day and instead began his preparations for the grass court season. He was quoted by the X account of Manuel Sanchez, the EFE sports correspondent, who posted:
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"Alcaraz: "I went out the first day, but I didn't go out at night the other two. I was in bed at midnight on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm getting older and my body isn't up to it anymore." He is the best."
Carlos Alcaraz is now a five-time Grand Slam champion at just 22. He has now won his last five encounters with World No. 1 Sinner.
Carlos Alcaraz will begin the grass court season full of confidence
Carlos Alcaraz will have little time to rest on his laurels. He returns to competition on June 16 in the HSBC Championships in England. This will be his last chance to hone his grass-court skills before he defends his Wimbledon title in July. After his Paris heroics, he stressed to Roland-Garros.com that hard work and dedication were the reasons behind his success:
"I’ve worked really, really hard to get here. You have to have talent, obviously, but that doesn’t get you anywhere if you don’t put in the work. For years I worked, sacrificed so much when I was younger to reach my goal, achieve my dreams and become a professional tennis player."
Jannik Sinner has a win over Alcaraz at Wimbledon. The pair played in the Round of 16 in 2022, and the Italian emerged victorious with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3 scoreline. Given their recent history, Alcaraz appears ready to overturn that result should they meet in London.
