After a flawless fortnight in Paris, Sinner's eye-catching run at French Open ends in heartbreak

PARIS (AP) — After a flawless fortnight in Paris, Jannik Sinner was on the brink of capturing his first French Open title on Sunday after a dominant run on the clay courts of Roland-Garros.

Facing defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, the top-ranked Italian was firmly in control.

Sinner’s deep groundstrokes, excellent service, heavy top spin, and subtle variations had worn down Alcaraz, who found himself 5-3 down and trailing 0-40 in the fourth set, and facing three match points.

At that moment, it felt like the best of all possible worlds for the 23-year-old Sinner.

But then the momentum swung. Alcaraz fought back, saved the first match point when Sinner sent a forehand long. On the second, Sinner missed a return. The third ended with Alcaraz winning a short baseline exchange.

Sinner had just let his chance slip away.

From there, Alcaraz produced one of the greatest comeback in Roland-Garros history to win the longest final ever played on the Parisian dirt — 5 hours and 29 minutes — 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2).

“It’s an amazing trophy, so I won’t sleep tonight very well, but it’s okay,” Sinner said during the trophy ceremony.

There is hardly anything between the two best players in tennis at the moment, who have now combined to win the last six Grand Slam titles and appear poised to build one of the sport's most compelling rivalries in the years ahead.

Sunday's duel delivered a match of rare intensity, filled with punishing baseline rallies, exquisite drop shots, and brilliant passing shots — thrilling a packed Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Reflecting on the match in his post-final press conference, Sinner tried to draw positives from a devastating loss.

“Obviously, this one hurts,” he said. “There’s not so much to say right now. But again, I’m happy with how we’re trying to improve every day and put myself in these kinds of positions. It was a very high-level match, that’s for sure. I’m happy to be part of it. But yeah, the final result hurts.”

It was a particularly tough ending for Sinner, who had not dropped a set on his way to the final, including a dominant semifinal win over three-time French Open champion Novak Djokovic.

Before facing Alcaraz, Sinner had never lost a Grand Slam final, winning his first three. A victory would have made him just the fifth man in the Open Era to win three consecutive major titles.

“I’m pretty sure you are going to be a champion, not once but many, many times,” Alcaraz told him during the trophy ceremony. “It is a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making history with you.”

Sinner, who will remain world No. 1, said he’ll lean on his family and loved ones to recover from the loss.

“Now it’s my time to take something from the close people I have,” he said. “As I’ve always said, before my career started, I never would’ve imagined finding myself in this position. It wasn’t even a dream because it felt so far away — I wasn’t even thinking about it. Now I find myself here, playing the longest final in the history of Roland-Garros. It hurts, yes, but on the other hand, you can’t go on crying.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Italy's Jannik Sinner prepares to serve against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Italy's Jannik Sinner misses to return against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Second placed Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts after the final match of the French Tennis Open against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Italy's Jannik Sinner gestures as he plays against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz during their final match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Second placed Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts after the final match of the French Tennis Open against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)