Jannik Sinner was beaten in the Roland Garros final by Carlos Alcaraz despite having three championship points.
Sinner and Alcaraz played for over five-and-a-half hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier in a classic Roland Garros final that was watched across the globe.
One of those to watch the final was Rafael Nadal, who congratulated Alcaraz on defending his Roland Garros title.
While Sinner was unable to win the title in Paris, he has received plaudits for something that he did after the match.
Tennis fans praise Jannik Sinner for his runners-up speech at Roland Garros
Despite losing to Alcaraz in such heartbreaking fashion, Sinner still had to deliver a runners-up speech after losing a match where he had three championship points.
While he may not have been able to cross the line in the match, it appears that Sinner got his speech to perfection, receiving praise far and wide for his words after the match.
One of those impressed by Sinner was former world number one Andy Roddick’s podcast, who wrote a message on X (formerly known as Twitter) noticing how the world number one did not forget anyone in his speech.
The social media post read, “Sinner thanking the ball kids and chair umpires (clapping emojis).”
This was followed by six-time doubles Grand Slam champion Rennae Stubbs, who was critical of Aryna Sabalenka for what she said in her post-match speech after her Roland Garros final defeat to Coco Gauff.
However, Stubbs was much more impressed with how Sinner conducted himself on court after his defeat.
She wrote, “I won’t ever let anyone say anything badly about this kid! @janniksin is class personified! He’s a good man! This is the hardest speech he will possibly ever give and yet, it’s done with class and a smile.”
The tributes for Sinner continued, as high profile tennis journalist Jon Wertheim also publicised how impressed he was by the Italian.
Wertheim wrote, “THIS is how you give a speech after a devastating loss …..”
Jannik Sinner makes unwanted history in Roland Garros final
It will be a tough defeat for Sinner to take, having won all six of his previous matches at Roland Garros this year in straight sets.
Sinner continued that streak in the final against Alcaraz, going two sets to love up and was even a break up in the third.
Alcaraz managed to wrestle that third set back, but it still appeared that Sinner would take the title when he had three consecutive championship points in the fourth set.
However, it was not meant to be for Sinner and he has now become the first player in the Open Era to not win a Grand Slam title after winning the first 20 sets at the event.
This will be a tough defeat for Sinner to take, but he can be reassured that he handled himself in the best possible manner even in such a defeat.
Alcaraz has also made a big prediction about Sinner, as he will now look to bounce back for the grass court season.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
