By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Carlos Alcaraz did what his idol Rafael Nadal once did in 2022 — snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in grand slam finals.
From two sets down, Nadal somehow recovered to defeat the then top seed Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the five hours and 24 minutes long epic final and in the process win a record 21st grand slam title at Australian Open.
Three years later, Alcaraz also made a similar but almost impossible comeback in the history of tennis against top seed Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros.
Alcaraz was two sets down in the final and conceded three championship points to Sinner in the fourth set before making a stunning comeback to win the French Open title 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 (10-2) in a match that went on for five hours and 29 minutes.
In both the titanic finals, Nadal and Alcaraz credited the crowd for their astonishing victories.
Alcaraz also called it destiny as he went level with Nadal’s tally of grand slam wins at the age of 22 years to win his fifth grand slam title. Nadal was also 22 years old when he had defeated Roger Federer to win Wimbledon championship in 2008 which was also his fifth grand slam title.
After winning the French Open title, Alcaraz revealed that he was inspired by the fighting spirit for which Nadal was renowned for. “When I was feeling worse, I had no more strength I tried to think about Rafa, about all the comebacks he made,” Alcaraz told a TV channel.