Carlos Alcaraz roared back from down two sets to defeat Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7-6, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in an epic five-hour plus French Open final on Sunday. It marked the world second-ranked player’s second straight title at Roland Garros and third Grand Slam title since the start of 2024, also including the 2024 Wimbledon title. It is his fifth Slam overall.
At age 22, Alcaraz is the third-youngest man to win five major titles, after Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal.
The win was worth €2.55 million in prize money ($2.9 million based on current exchange rates) and pushed his career earnings to $44.7 million and seventh all-time, as he passed Pete Sampras. Sinner pocketed $1.45 million and sits just behind Sampras on the all-time earnings list at $41.5 million.
Coco Gauff won the women’s title on Saturday, coming back from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.
Sinner and Alcaraz arrived at Roland Garros as the heavy co-favorites to claim the men’s title. They have now captured the last six Grand Slams between them and have cemented themselves as the next generation of stars after the Big Three of Roger Federer, Nadal and Novak Djokovic dominated for two decades and captured a combined 66 singles Grand Slam titles.
Sinner and Alcaraz were the two highest-paid tennis players in 2024 from prize money, endorsements and appearance fees. Sinner ranked No. 43 in Sportico’s highest-paid athletes with $52.3 million, while Alcaraz was No. 87 at $40.3 million. No other tennis players cracked the top 100.
The 2025 French Open started with a tribute to recently retired Nadal, the “King of Clay.” Alcaraz, who is deemed a protege of his fellow Spaniard, might inherit the title. He has become popular with sponsors as the future of the sport, with his most lucrative sponsor Nike, which redid its deal with Alcaraz in 2023 at a huge increase. He has also inked deals with LVMH, Rolex, BMW, Babolat, Calvin Klein and ISDIN sunscreen.
Sinner has been the world’s top-ranked player for 52 straight weeks, despite a turbulent stretch off the court that led to a three-month suspension and the inability to add rankings points during the ban.
Last August, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) revealed a pair of positive tests by Sinner for the banned anabolic steroid clostebol in March 2024. The ITIA also announced Sinner bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive tests after an independent hearing. They accepted Sinner’s explanation that he was tainted by his physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, who used a healing spray on a cut on his hand before he gave Sinner a massage. Clostebol is an ingredient in certain healing creams and sprays available in Italy.
WADA, which sits above ITIA in the sports doping pecking order, then stepped in to appeal the “no fault or negligence” decision and seek a tennis ban between one and two years. Sinner and WADA reached a deal that called for a three-month ban.
Sinner has more than 10 endorsement partners and all of them have stuck with him. His partners include Nike, Lavazza, Head, Rolex De Cecco and L’Oreal.