Jannik Sinner told he has now ‘paid the price’ for missing three months of tennis after his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz

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Jannik Sinner saw his Grand Slam winning streak come to an end against Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final.

Sinner and Alcaraz have been praised for the level they produced on Court Philippe-Chatrier, in a match that lasted over five and a half hours.

Despite having three championship points, Sinner made costly errors that resulted in Alcaraz lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires for a second year running.

This is a second successive tournament where Sinner has lost to Alcaraz in the final, after he made his return to tennis following three months away from the sport.

Mark Petchey says Jannik Sinner has now ‘paid the price’ for missing three months of tennis

Sinner returned to tennis at the Italian Open after accepting a three month anti-doping suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following his Australian Open triumph.

This decision divided opinion, with some suggesting that Sinner was getting off lightly for his two failed anti-doping tests back in March 2024, despite his pleading of innocence.

Emma Raducanu’s coach Mark Petchey touched on this when discussing the French Open final on TNT Sports, with the Brit claiming Sinner has now paid the price for that ban.

“I think there is a lot of people who feel that he did not pay a price when he had his three months away from the game,” said Petchey. “He paid his price today.

“He has not played a lot of big matches in recent months and I think the emotional toll, as well as he did to turn things around and make a revival in the fifth set, was crucial for him against someone like Carlos Alcaraz.

“I think that he has paid a pretty significant price in terms of not putting a third straight Grand Slam on his resume.”

Paul McNamee claims Jannik Sinner winning French Open ‘wouldn’t have felt right’

Petchey is not the only former player to suggest that Sinner winning the French Open title would not have felt right.

However, in the case of five-time doubles Grand Slam champion Paul McNamee, he believes that it would not have felt right for Sinner to have won a match like that on clay.

He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Sinner played an incredible match, but it wouldn’t have felt right if he won, being on clay and all. So, for me, the right guy won today.”

Sinner will now turn his attention to the grass court season, as he looks to move on from this French Open final heartbreak.

The world number one will play at the Halle Open, where he is the defending champion, before heading to Wimbledon.