Crowd Behind Alcaraz's Destiny

He says that without them he wouldn't have matched Nadal's fifth Slam title at same age

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PARIS — Carlos Alcaraz called it destiny as he completed a thrilling comeback to capture his fifth Grand Slam title at the French Open on June 8, drawing level with his childhood idol Rafael Nadal's tally at the same age.

The 22-year-old Spaniard, long dubbed the heir to Nadal's clay-court throne, fought back from two sets down for the first time in his career to lift the trophy in a match against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner that he said had everything.

"The coincidence of winning my fifth Grand Slam at the same age as Rafa Nadal, I'm going to say that's destiny," Alcaraz said of equalling Nadal's tally of five Major titles at the same stage of their careers.

Nadal was one day younger when he beat Roger Federer in another final for the ages at Wimbledon in 2008 for his fifth Grand Slam title.

"It is a stat that I'm going to keep for me forever, winning the fifth Grand Slam at the same time as Rafa, my idol, my inspiration. It's a huge honour," said Alcaraz, who beat Italy's Sinner in 5hr 29min, the longest French Open final in the professional era.