JANNIK Sinner said he would try to “delete” the memory of his five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland Garros final on Sunday, after the world number one passed up three championship points as the Spaniard roared back to claim victory.
Sinner had looked set to pocket his first French Open title with Alcaraz serving at 0-40 when 3-5 down in the fourth set, but the reigning champion pulled off a battling hold before forcing a decider via a tie-break.
And after losing 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 and 7-6, Sinner said: “Obviously this one hurts. Yeah, there’s not so much to talk about right now…
“So we try to delete it somehow and take the positive and keep going. There are no other ways.”
It was the 23-year-old’s first defeat in a championship match at a major.
He adds of the fight throughout the match: “I tried to delete everything, every set. In Grand Slams you try to start from zero again.”
Winner Alcaraz, meanwhile, says: “When the situations are against you, you have to fight, keep fighting.
“I mean, it is a Grand Slam final. It’s no time to be tired. It’s no time to give up. It’s time to keep fighting, trying to find your moment, your good place again, and just go for it.
“I think the real champions are made in those situations when you deal with that pressure. I mean, that’s what the real champions have done in their whole careers.”
