After fighting from the brink to come back and win the French Open title, Carlos Alcaraz believes "real champions are made in those situations".
Alcaraz lifted his fifth grand slam title, and second at Roland-Garros, on Sunday after an incredible 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) triumph over Jannik Sinner.
The Spaniard was two sets down on Court Philippe-Chatrier and had never before overturned such a deficit in eight previous best-of-five matches.
However, he turned on the style, including saving three championship points in the fourth set to fight back. In doing so, he became the fourth player this century to win a men's singles grand slam title for four consecutive years, after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Indeed, Alcaraz is only the third player in the Open Era to win a men's singles major final after saving match point(s), after Gaston Gaudio (Roland-Garros 2004) and Djokovic (Wimbledon 2019).
"I prefer to win in three sets, honestly. I mean, I'm not going to lie, but when the situations are against you, let's say that you have to fight, keep fighting," Alcaraz said.
"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, with [those] situations in the best way possible. That's what the real champions have done in their whole careers.
"So, I'm just trying to feel comfortable in the situations with the pressure, and I'm not being afraid of it."
Alcaraz's successful title defence also saw him become the player with the most men's singles grand slam finals played in the Open Era without ever losing (5-0).
Alcaraz and Sinner met for the first time in a grand slam final, and the top two put on a display that will go down in history after living up to the hype.
They played out the longest grand slam decider in Roland-Garros history at five hours and 29 minutes, with Djokovic's win over Nadal at the 2012 Australian Open showpiece, which clocked in at five hours and 53 minutes, the only longer major final.
Their contest is already being hailed as an instant classic, but Alcaraz is not yet sure if it deserves a place among the best.
"If people put our match at that table, it's a huge honour for me. Watching from outside or realising what that match is in the history of tennis, I don't know if our match is in the same table [as the best]," Alcaraz said.
"But I'm just happy to put our match and our names in the history of the grand slams, in the history of Roland-Garros. I leave the discussion to the people."
