Jannik Sinner vows to move on quickly from epic French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz - 'Cannot keep going crying'
Updated 09/06/2025 at 10:46 GMT+1
Jannik Sinner insists he was pleased with how he played in his French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz. The pair played out one of the great Grand Slam matches on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with the Spaniard eventually winning in five sets - having earlier saved three match points. Sinner admits he "cannot keep crying" over the result, as he said he will "try to delete it somehow."
Highlights: Alcaraz overpowers Sinner in classic Roland-Garros final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jannik Sinner insists he will quickly move on from his French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
The Italian had raced into a two-set lead at Roland Garros on Sunday, and looked destined to lift the trophy for the first time.
However, he wasted three match points as Alcaraz produced a sensational recovery to win an epic contest that lasted in excess of five hours.
It is the first time the world No. 1 has been beaten in a Grand Slam final.
And he believes there is no point wallowing in self-pity, especially with Wimbledon just around the corner.
"As I always said before my career started, I never would have thought to find myself in this position," he said in his post-match press conference.
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"[It] was not even a dream because it was so far and I was not thinking about this.
"Now I find myself here, playing the longest match in the history of Roland Garros in a final. It hurts, yes, but in other ways you cannot keep crying."
Sinner was playing in his third successive major final, having won the US Open last September, and then lifted the Australian Open title in the early weeks of this year.
Having such a deep run at Roland Garros also comes just weeks after his return from a three-month ban for failing two drugs tests.
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The top shots from an extraordinary Roland-Garros final
Video credit: TNT Sports
His match fitness in Paris was always going to be a test, given this was only the Italian's second tournament since making his comeback.
But he insists tiredness was not to blame for squandering such a healthy lead.
"Physically I was quite fine," he continued. "Of course, tired. He was tired too, because it was a physical match. It was a mental match.
"What can you do? Now knowing the result, it is what it is. You can't really change it.
"I'm still happy to be part of this match. I think it was a very, very high-level match, [it] was long, and it happens. We saw it in the past with other players, and today it happened to me.
"So we try to delete it somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways."
Sinner's next tilt at a major will be at Wimbledon, which gets underway on Monday, June 30.
The Italian has reached the quarter-final stage in three successive years at SW19, only to suffer a pair of defeats to Novak Djokovic, as well as losing against Daniil Medvedev in 2024.
One of the reversals against Djokovic also came having had a two-set lead.
He was keen not to compare those two matches though, saying: "I was in a different moment of my career. It helped me very much to see how things can change quickly. But when Novak raised that level that day, I felt that I had no chance. It was different.
"Today I had chances. I was a break up in the third. I was a break up in the fourth. I had three match points. Serving for the match.
"[At] 6-5, I had chances also in the fifth. So I had so many chances I couldn't use. Sometimes you have these days like you have. You can't really do anything now."
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'Amazing battle, you deserve it' - Sinner pays tribute to Roland-Garros winner Alcaraz
Video credit: TNT Sports
Defeat also means Sinner has lost his last five matches with Alcaraz. This loss came just weeks after the Spaniard came out on top in the Rome Masters final, winning 7-6 6-1.
This was the first time the pair had met in a Grand Slam final, in what looks set to become one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history in the years to come.
Sinner concluded: "Thinking of seeing my level today, it has improved since Rome, which as I said before the match, was my main goal to see where my level is at.
"I prepared [for] the Grand Slam with one tournament on clay. Making the final, it's difficult to accept now because I had lots of chances, but this is the good part of the sport.
"Also today it got me the sad part, no? But if you watch only the sad part, you're never going to come back.
"I believe I have improved as a player since last year, which is good. So we try to keep pushing."
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