How Pau Gasol reacted to Carlos Alcaraz winning the 2025 French Open

Carlos Alcaraz produced one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history to win the 2025 French Open.

Down two sets to one against Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz’s hopes of defending his French Open title were slipping from his grasp.

Sinner was on the brink of destiny at 5-4 in the third set: he found himself 0-40 up and had three championship points.

Alcaraz endeavoured, saving all three points, before going on to win the contest 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.

The final was watched by millions; one of those being legendary Spanish basketball player, Pau Gasol.

Pau Gasol described the 2025 French Open final as an ‘ode to tennis’

Pau Gasol, a two-time NBA champion, expressed his ecstasy at Alcaraz’s triumph in a social media post.

On X [formerly Twitter] Gasol said: “What an ode to tennis! Congratulations to both Carlos Alcaraz
and Jannik Sinner for the final they have given us lovers of this sport.

“And THANK YOU to Carlitos for the thrill you gave us this afternoon.

“You’ve shown us once again why we should never, ever give up. Enjoy your second Roland Garros, my friend!!”

After the final, Alcaraz explained how he had clawed his way back into the match.

“Well, honestly it was just I had to fight,” Alcaraz told reporters in Paris. “I had to fight all the time. I had to believe all the time in myself.

“Honestly when he broke my serve at the beginning of the third set, I felt like everything was to his favor. I felt like everything he is doing he was going to be in. He was going to make winner, not mistakes, hitting with the frame, going to the line.

“That was my feeling at the beginning of the third set. I tried to delete that thoughts from my mind and just keep going, try to fight all the time.

“Obviously the crowd and the people were really important to me today. The whole crowd were amazing. But there were few corners of the crowd that was really, really helpful for me, which I appreciate that.

“But, yeah, probably without them, it would have been impossible to come back.”

Sinner avenged his Roland Garros loss a month later, defeating Alcaraz in the 2025 Wimbledon Men’s Singles final.

The pair met in a third Grand Slam final at the 2025 US Open. On this occasion, Alcaraz again emerged victorious, beating Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Who will win the 2026 French Open?

In all likelihood, there will be a French Open rematch between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz and Sinner are quite comfortably the two best clay-court players on the planet. Moreover, Alcaraz will be motivated by the chance to win a third consecutive title, while Jannik Sinner will be eager to win his first Roland Garros title: an achievement that would see him complete the ‘Career Grand Slam.’

The duo’s biggest challengers will likely be Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. Djokovic is a three-time champion in Paris, while Zverev made the final in 2024 before losing to Alcaraz in five sets.

Casper Ruud may be a dark horse for the title. The Norwegian has enjoyed a bright start to 2026 and is twice a Roland Garros finalist.

Ruud made the Paris final in 2022 and 2023, losing to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, respectively.