It was an afternoon that turned into an evening to forget for Jannik Sinner, who had three championship points for French Open glory.

The first of no doubt many Grand Slam showpieces between Sinner and familiar foe Carlos Alcaraz went the way of the Spaniard.

Sinner certainly played his part in the epic. Even when Alcaraz had taken control of the contest in the fifth and final set, the world No.1 kept battling and forced a championship decider.

It proved a bridge too far for Sinner though, who succumbed to Alcaraz’s pace, power and precision.

However, there were signs that the writing might’ve already been on the wall for Sinner earlier in the deciding set, when he, rather uncharacteristically, had a series of outbursts.

Firstly, the Italian was seen berating his camp in the stands, before lashing out at his racket in consecutive games.

While a familiar sight for most on the tennis court, especially in a high-pressure environment like a Grand Slam final, Sinner usually conducts himself in the opposite manner.

He’s made a name for himself as being a cool, calm and almost always collected customer.

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It’s something he opened up about earlier in the French Open when he spoke about the importance of remaining calm under pressure, even if internally he was raging inside. Commenting after his fourth-round win over Andrey Rublev, he replied:

“Absolutely not true,” when asked if he’s always in control of himself emotionally.

He continued: “Inside there is a storm going on.

Tennis is a very mental game, you try and not show anything to your opponent. When you see your opponent struggling a little, you always try and raise [your game].

I’m someone who tries to watch a lot on the other side, try and understand how my opponent is feeling but again, in the beginning of my career it was a little bit, the storm was outside, not only inside. I’m happy how I handle situations [now].”