Rank Alcaraz v. Sinner Roland Garros Final 2025 in terms of ATG men's matches

[Moxie]

I noticed @Federberg was saying, during the match, that this match was rising by the moment in its stature amongst the greatest men's matches. I think that's true. I wonder where folks might think it stands. It's now the longest RG final in the open era. And now I think it's second only to the 2012 AO final Djokovic d. Nadal. But long isn't necessarily great. It had the changing of fortunes of the 2008 Wimbledon. It was full of great shot-making, and sportsmanship.

Feel free to revisit favorite matches, and say, more or less, how this one ranks, or if it doesn't. Great matches that aren't finals or even in Slams are allowed. Why not?

PS: I thought I added a poll, but it didn't show up. The poll question was: #1? Top 5? Top 10? Outside of your top 10 best?

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I noticed @Federberg was saying, during the match, that this match was rising by the moment in its stature amongst the greatest men's matches. I think that's true. I wonder where folks might think it stands. It's now the longest RG final in the open era. And now I think it's second only to the 2012 AO final Djokovic d. Nadal. But long isn't necessarily great. It had the changing of fortunes of the 2008 Wimbledon. It was full of great shot-making, and sportsmanship.

Feel free to revisit favorite matches, and say, more or less, how this one ranks, or if it doesn't. Great matches that aren't finals or even in Slams are allowed. Why not?

PS: I thought I added a poll, but it didn't show up. The poll question was: #1? Top 5? Top 10? Outside of your top 10 best?

I was there live at the AO 2012 final, quite frankly it turned out to be a 'boxing match' to me it wasnt good tennis at all by either player and a lot of the fans around me said the same thing, we were all just wanting the match to be over quite frankly.
I need sleep now I will think about my favorite slams or matches etc later.

 

[Federberg]

hmmm.. the ones that come to mind, and in no particular order...

Federer v Nadal Wimbledon 2008
Djokovic v Nadal US Open 2012
Wawrinka v Djokovic RG.. I forget the year
Federer v Nadal AO 2017
Sinner v Alcaraz RG 2025

Honourable mentions to Djokovic v Alcaraz Wimbledon 2023

I won't mention pre 2000, otherwise Edberg v Becker Wimbledon part 3 and Borg v McEnroe would obviously feature.

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

Wawrinka v Djokovic RG.. I forget the year

That one sucked. 01, 09, and 19 Wimbledon were all way better matches than that one.

 

[Fiero425]

hmmm.. the ones that come to mind, and in no particular order...

Federer v Nadal Wimbledon 2008
Djokovic v Nadal US Open 2012
Wawrinka v Djokovic RG.. I forget the year
Federer v Nadal AO 2017
Sinner v Alcaraz RG 2025

Honourable mentions to Djokovic v Alcaraz Wimbledon 2023

I won't mention pre 2000, otherwise Edberg v Becker Wimbledon part 3 and Borg v McEnroe would obviously feature.

I guess 2019 Wimbledon Final isn't in consideration! It may not have been the best tennis, but the scores, drama, & how ended in a 5th set TB for the 1st time in Wimbledon history! Djokovic won all 3 TB's saving 2 MP's along the way when Roger was serving for the title!

 

[Moxie]

hmmm.. the ones that come to mind, and in no particular order...

Federer v Nadal Wimbledon 2008
Djokovic v Nadal US Open 2012
Wawrinka v Djokovic RG.. I forget the year
Federer v Nadal AO 2017
Sinner v Alcaraz RG 2025

Honourable mentions to Djokovic v Alcaraz Wimbledon 2023

I won't mention pre 2000, otherwise Edberg v Becker Wimbledon part 3 and Borg v McEnroe would obviously feature.

I still think Nadal d. Federer 2008 Wimbledon is still the top.
I wouldn't put Djokovic d. Nadal USOpen 2012 on my top 5 list.
Nor the Wawrkinka d. Djokovic final at RG, which was 2014.
Federer d. Nadal AO 2017, yes.
I would put Nadal d. Djokovic SF 2013 at RG in my top 5.
I'd also put Safin d. Federer SF AO 2005 in my top 5.
I thought Alcaraz d. Djokovic at Wimbledon 2023 was excellent.

I would put the match today in top 5 of all time. Probably 2nd, if I put it ahead of Borg d. McEnroe Wimbledon 1980. Which is was a great match, but not as great as this one.

 

[PhiEaglesfan712]

I think he meant Djokovic d. Nadal AO 2012. That's certainly on the short list of greatest match ever.

Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open.

 

[Moxie]

I think he meant Djokovic d. Nadal AO 2012. That's certainly on the short list of greatest match ever.

Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open.

Oh, true. I was thinking of the 2010 and 2011 finals between them at the USO. Still, I think the 2012 AO was just long. I don't think it was great, or certainly not as exciting as the one today.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

I think he meant Djokovic d. Nadal AO 2012. That's certainly on the short list of greatest match ever.

Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open.

Please AO 2012 wasnt a great match at all, I was there live, the quality of the tennis was poor from both players, it ended up like a Boxing Match, it was awful, most people wanted it to end!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh, true. I was thinking of the 2010 and 2011 finals between them at the USO. Still, I think the 2012 AO was just long. I don't think it was great, or certainly not as exciting as the one today

AO 2012 wast not great at all, believe me I had to suffer that poor quality of a match, which took years of my life and others that wished it would End!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

A great match that just comes to mind
Rome Masrers final in 2006 Rafa d Federer in a 5 hour 5 sets match,
I really need my sleep now, .

 

[Jelenafan]

No doubt This FO final was a great match but now it’s being compared to the ATG in tennis history, so…

My issue with this match per that high bar is that while there were ebbs and flows and momentum shifts for both players, the final tie breaker was anticlimactic , didn’t Alcaraz get to 7-0 ? So the tension was missing at the very end, with Alcaraz running a way with a 10-2 5th set tiebreaker.

 

[Federberg]

I guess 2019 Wimbledon Final isn't in consideration! It may not have been the best tennis, but the scores, drama, & how ended in a 5th set TB for the 1st time in Wimbledon history! Djokovic won all 3 TB's saving 2 MP's along the way when Roger was serving for the title!

that one isn't on my list, but not for the reason you might think. I didn't watch it. Personal reasons made it impossible. And when I heard the result I had absolutely no reason to ever watch it

 

[Moxie]

No doubt This FO final was a great match but now it’s being compared to the ATG in tennis history, so…

My issue with this match per that high bar is that while there were ebbs and flows and momentum shifts for both players, the final tie breaker was anticlimactic , didn’t Alcaraz get to 7-0 ? So the tension was missing at the very end, with Alcaraz running a way with a 10-2 5th set tiebreaker.

I don't know that any great matches aren't without some ebbs and flows and momentum shifts. Most of the matches we'd be talking about are over 4.5 hours long, right? The first set of the 1980 Wimbledon final, for a long time the gold standard, was won 6-1 by McEnroe. The 2008 Wimbledon, which I do think is the greatest, started with many great points, but it's not unfair to say that Federer started a bit lackluster. I think the RG SF 2013 was pretty darned great, and full of drama, but Djokovic lost one of those sets 1-6. And a very poor service game at the end lost him the match. (I think that then Rafa served it out.)

The end of that match was so tense, it was almost a relief that it coasted to a conclusion, (well, for me, anyway, as I was rooting for Alcaraz,) but I wouldn't downgrade the match due to a one-sided tiebreaker at the end.

 

[Kieran]

No doubt This FO final was a great match but now it’s being compared to the ATG in tennis history, so…

My issue with this match per that high bar is that while there were ebbs and flows and momentum shifts for both players, the final tie breaker was anticlimactic , didn’t Alcaraz get to 7-0 ? So the tension was missing at the very end, with Alcaraz running a way with a 10-2 5th set tiebreaker.

That 7-0 was a tennis masterpiece. The match didn’t end with a crescendo, it ended with the most glorious muted surgery in an opponents we’ve ever seen…

 

[Kieran]

It’s the greatest FO final ever, that’s true. In the open era, nothing in Paris compares, when it comes to finals,

It stands in comparison with the greatest matches we’ve seen not just because of its length, but because it was such high quality tennis and almost heart attack territory drama.

I still think Rafa dethroning the 5 time champ at Wimbledon was greater given that Rafa failed the two years previously and lost a couple of MPs in the fourth, and the match dragged on and on into twilight. It was a special achievement.

I think the 2012 final at Australia had less quality than both these other matches and I agree to a large extent with @MargaretMcAleer that it dragged a little with the second and third sets being one sided in Djoker’s favour, and so lacking in drama.

The 2013 semi in Paris was similar and Rafa might have sewn it up in 4 but he slipped while serving for it, at 5-4. Both these matches had drama with the underdogs breaking in the fifth only to choke and let the favourite win, after all.

Borg-Mac 1980, Mac-Jimbo 1982, these are great matches from back in the mists, very high quality and the shared something unusual in common with yesterday: no toilet breaks, just a long hunting and haunting on the court.

Hard to pick. Pete played the most perfect tennis I’ve seen in 1999, but it was straights. It was like Carlos and the Magnificent Seven yesterday: flawless. The 2019 Wimbledon final had the staggering achievement of a 37 year old being great enough to get to within a point of victory, for which he suffered the mockery of fools.

I think yesterdays match is safely the greatest match on that court though, which is good enough.

The greatest at Wimbledon might be 1980, the greatest in New York might be 2009 or 1980 when McEnroe beat Bjorn in a thriller. The greatest in Australia?

2022!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

It’s the greatest FO final ever, that’s true. In the open era, nothing in Paris compares, when it comes to finals,

It stands in comparison with the greatest matches we’ve seen not just because of its length, but because it was such high quality tennis and almost heart attack territory drama.

I still think Rafa dethroning the 5 time champ at Wimbledon was greater given that Rafa failed the two years previously and lost a couple of MPs in the fourth, and the match dragged on and on into twilight. It was a special achievement.

I think the 2012 final at Australia had less quality than both these other matches and I agree to a large extent with @MargaretMcAleer that it dragged a little with the second and third sets being one sided in Djoker’s favour, and so lacking in drama.

The 2013 semi in Paris was similar and Rafa might have sewn it up in 4 but he slipped while serving for it, at 5-4. Both these matches had drama with the underdogs breaking in the fifth only to choke and let the favourite win, after all.

Borg-Mac 1980, Mac-Jimbo 1982, these are great matches from back in the mists, very high quality and the shared something unusual in common with yesterday: no toilet breaks, just a long hunting and haunting on the court.

Hard to pick. Pete played the most perfect tennis I’ve seen in 1999, but it was straights. It was like Carlos and the Magnificent Seven yesterday: flawless. The 2019 Wimbledon final had the staggering achievement of a 37 year old being great enough to get to within a point of victory, for which he suffered the mockery of fools.

I think yesterdays match is safely the greatest match on that court though, which is good enough.

The greatest at Wimbledon might be 1980, the greatest in New York might be 2009 or 1980 when McEnroe beat Bjorn in a thriller. The greatest in Australia?

2022!

I will go with the final at the AO in 2009 Rafa v Federer, for the higher quality of tennis
Some of the shots both players hit, especially Rafa, one shot that comes to mind, Roger hit an incredible defensive squash shot, Rafa somehow gets it back with a defensive slice, while sliding on as HC as if it was clay lol! then finished the point with a FHDL
Shame Rogers level dropped so the 5th set was kind of a disappointment.After Rafa played that incredible SF match against Verdasco, I could not believe he could come back and play Roger for 5 sets.Rafa's 1st AO title and also the first for any Spanish man.

 

[Kieran]

I will go with the final at the AO in 2009 Rafa v Federer, for the higher quality of tennis
Some of the shots both players hit, especially Rafa, one shot that comes to mind, Roger hit an incredible defensive squash shot, Rafa somehow gets it back with a defensive slice, while sliding on as HC as if it was clay lol! then finished the point with a FHDL
Shame Rogers level dropped so the 5th set was kind of a disappointment.After Rafa played that incredible SF match against Verdasco, I could not believe he could come back and play Roger for 5 sets.Rafa's 1st AO title and also the first for any Spanish man.

Yeah 2009 was a year for upsets and new champs, wasn’t it? 5 setters at Wimbledon and New York too. I think Andy was too one dimensional for that match at Wimbledon to compare with the previous year, even the final set lacked ebbs and flows, with Andy lacking wit and imagination on the return.

And Roger winning in Paris. It was a year that looked odd..

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Yeah 2009 was a year for upsets and new champs, wasn’t it? 5 setters at Wimbledon and New York too. I think Andy was too one dimensional for that match at Wimbledon to compare with the previous year, even the final set lacked ebbs and flows, with Andy lacking wit and imagination on the return.

And Roger winning in Paris. It was a year that looked odd..

I guess we were due for a " odd year' in terms of results and 2009 certainly was 'the year' lol!

 

[Fiero425]

I don't know that any great matches aren't without some ebbs and flows and momentum shifts. Most of the matches we'd be talking about are over 4.5 hours long, right? The first set of the 1980 Wimbledon final, for a long time the gold standard, was won 6-1 by McEnroe. The 2008 Wimbledon, which I do think is the greatest, started with many great points, but it's not unfair to say that Federer started a bit lackluster. I think the RG SF 2013 was pretty darned great, and full of drama, but Djokovic lost one of those sets 1-6. And a very poor service game at the end lost him the match. (I think that then Rafa served it out.)

The end of that match was so tense, it was almost a relief that it coasted to a conclusion, (well, for me, anyway, as I was rooting for Alcaraz,) but I wouldn't downgrade the match due to a one-sided tiebreaker at the end.

Just watched ESPN's, "PTI" (Pardon The Interruption)! They led the show w/ news on the FO! In their opinion, "it was magical!" They see this as a changing of the guard w/ Sincaraz finally kicking Djokovic off "that hill!" We'll see next month if Novak has anything left!