Alcaraz outlasts Zverev for first Roland-Garros crown – Roland-Garros

“It’s been incredible work the last month. We were struggling a lot with the injury,” Alcaraz said. “Coming back to Madrid, I didn’t feel well and then the next weeks with a lot of doubts coming here, not practising too many hours on the court.

“I’m really grateful to have the team that I have. I know that everyone in my team is giving their heart to make me improve as a player and as a person so I’m really grateful and I call you a team but it’s a family.”

In the first men’s final in Paris in 20 years that did not feature any of the ‘Big Three’ of Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer, Alcaraz served a reminder that when fully fit and firing he is the prime candidate to lead the current crop.

It is a daunting prospect for all comers. Just the seventh man in the Open era and the first since Stan Wawrinka at the 2016 US Open to land a Grand Slam title at three different majors, at 21 years old, the Spaniard has barely begun.