Jannik Sinner’s struggles in four-hour matches continue

Jannik Sinner came so close to winning the French Open on Sunday at Roland Garros in Paris, but he blew it and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, continuing his losing streak in lengthy matches.

Sinner, who entered the match as the top seed in the tournament, lost to two-seed Alcaraz 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a stunning turn of events.

Sinner had been up 5-3 in the fourth set and leading 40-0. He had triple-championship point but was unable to close it out. He allowed Alcaraz to serve his way back into the game. Then while leading 5-4 in the fourth set, Sinner had his serve broken. The set went to a tiebreaker, which Alcaraz won. The two then went to another tiebreaker in the fifth set, which Alcaraz won 10-2 to capture the championship.

Sinner entered the match 0-5 in his career in matches lasting over four hours. That was the tipping point on Sunday too, as Sinner had his big lead in the fourth set at around three hours and forty-five minutes into the match. Once Alcaraz forced his way back into the match, it pushed things into that dreaded fourth hour for Sinner. Sinner still forced a tiebreaker in the final set, though he fell apart while Alcaraz surged to win that 10-2.

Sinner is now 0-6 in matches lasting longer than four hours. Sunday’s French Open final went 5:29, which makes it the second-longest major final ever. Only the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lasted longer (five hours, 53 minutes).