June 8 (UPI) -- Carlos Alcaraz dropped an initial two sets and faced triple championship point, but excavated energy to outlast Jannik Sinner in a record 5-hour, 29-minute French Open finale Sunday in Paris.
The match set a record as the longest French Open final and became the second-longest Grand Slam men's singles final in the Open Era, which started in 1968, trailing only a 5-hour, 53-minute 2012 Australian Open match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Alcaraz fought off triple championship point in the fourth set of the epic 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) victory. The second-ranked Spaniard broke Sinner's serve seven times and amassed 70 winners in his fifth-consecutive victory over the top-ranked Italian.
"I didn't think about anything," Alcaraz said on the TNT and truTV broadcast. "Just point after point and putting my heart into it, giving all my energy to it. I just tried not to give up."
Alcaraz, who is now 13-1 in five-set matches, also improved to 1-9 after losing his first two sets. Sinner is now 0-6 in matches longer than four hours. Alcaraz and Sinner have won the last six men's singles Grand Slam crowns.
