The takeaways from Carlos Alcaraz’s fifth-set tiebreaker victory over Jannik Sinner in the riveting and record-breaking French Open men’s final were multiple and significant.

This was the longest Grand Slam final in the Open Era, and most tennis fans remember it vividly. It was the 2012 Australian Open final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, which lasted five hours and 53 minutes and ended 5–7, 6–4, 6–2, 6–7 (5), 7–5 in favor of the Serb.