"I never thought I'd see such a high level of play so soon after the Big 3's departure," says Santoro after the Roland-Garros final

As a consultant for Amazon Prime, former world No. 17 Fabrice Santoro reflected on the emotionally charged fortnight tennis fans experienced, starting with the tribute to Nadal and culminating in the legendary final between Alcaraz and Sinner—the longest in the tournament's history:

"Although Nadal bowed out during a beautiful ceremony on the tournament’s opening day, Federer is also retired, and Djokovic is in the final phase of his long career, tennis remains in good hands.

Of course, we’ll never forget the Federer-Nadal duels at Wimbledon or the Djokovic-Nadal battles at the Australian Open, but I never imagined we’d witness such a high level of play so soon after their departure, along with new champions delivering historic matches.

We’re speechless. I can’t help but feel happy for Alcaraz, but the sadness I feel for Sinner is immense, because losing after such a situation is extremely painful."

After leading 2 sets to 0 and holding 3 match points in the fourth set, the Italian finally surrendered after 5 hours and 29 minutes of play, suffering his first Grand Slam defeat—and his fifth consecutive loss to the Spaniard.