Carlos Alcaraz came from two sets down and saved three match points to overcome Jannik Sinner and defend his French Open title in the longest final in Roland Garros history.
The Spaniard showed incredible reserves of energy and willpower to win a five-hour 29-minute marathon and deny world No 1 Sinner a third consecutive Grand Slam title.
Instead Alcaraz claimed his fifth major crown at exactly the same age as his idol Rafael Nadal did, aged 22 years, one month and three days old.
It was his fifth victory from his fifth final, which was the first at one of the Slams to be played between two players born this century.
It was also the first Grand Slam final meeting of the two young superstars of men's tennis, the best players on the planet, who have now shared the last six major titles.
And it is one that will go down as a cast-iron Roland Garros classic, a final for the ages, a high-quality, heavy-hitting marathon which finished 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 to the man from Murcia.
“I want to start with Jannik,” said Alcaraz speaking on court. “It is amazing the level you have, congratulations for an amazing tournament to you and your team.
“I know the hard work you put in. I know how hard you are chasing every tournament. I am sure you will be champion many, many times and it is a privilege to share the court with you and making history with you.
“I'm just really happy to be able to make history with you in this tournament, in other tournaments, you are a huge inspiration for everyone and myself. Good luck and all the best for what is coming.”
Italian Sinner, on a 20-match winning streak at the slams, looked certain to add the Paris title to his US and Australian Open crowns when he forged two sets ahead.
He had lost his previous four matches against Alcaraz – the most recent in the Rome final last month, his first tournament after serving a three-month doping ban.
But the 23-year-old has been almost untouchable in the French capital, dropping serve only three times before the final and saving 19 of the 22 break points he had faced.
Some loose hitting from Alcaraz gave Sinner a break in the first game of the third, but perhaps being short of matches after his enforced absence was beginning to tell as last year's winner clawed back the deficit to force a fourth.
That ended a run of 31 consecutive sets won by Sinner at Grand Slam tournaments, stretching back to the Australian Open fourth round.
With both players now playing at close to their top levels, it was Sinner who made the first move in the fourth set, breaking to love to lead 4-3.
Second seed Alcaraz, scrambling to cling on to his title, then somehow saved three championship points on his own serve, before incredibly digging even deeper to break back.
In the tiebreak Sinner edged two points ahead but then started missing, while Alcaraz fired down back-to-back aces on his way to levelling the match.
Sinner had never before won a match lasting longer than four hours – mainly because he has never really had to – but he was guzzling the pickle juice at the changeover to try to find more energy.
But Alcaraz, having clinched an early break, served for the set only for Sinner to somehow chase down an outrageous drop shot to level the match again.
A 10-point tiebreak was needed to separate them, an early-evening shoot-out to decide the champion, and by now Alcaraz had his eye in.
A glorious winner, a drop-shot and volley and some wayward shots from Sinner helped him race ahead, and a final, spectacular forehand winner sealed an unbelievable victory 10-2 in the tiebreak.
“First of all, congratulations Carlos,” said Sinner. “It was an amazing performance from you again. It was an amazing battle. Congratulations to you and your team, you did an amazing job.
“Even though it is very difficult right now, it is OK. It is a big privilege for me to be here and to play here. For me, Paris is a really special place. I have achieved many great things here. I'm still happy with this one. It is an amazing trophy.
“I won't sleep very well tonight but it is OK.”
