Parineeti Chopra’s power play: Carlos Alcaraz wins again with his unofficial lucky charm watching

Dubai: Carlos Alcaraz may have lifted the French Open trophy, but Parineeti Chopra is pretty sure she had something to do with it.

The Bollywood actress turned self-declared tennis lucky charm after watching the Spaniard clinch yet another Grand Slam—this time at Roland Garros. And yes, she was there for his Wimbledon win too. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.

“The French Open final, Paris, and him.. Could date night get any better?” she posted on Instagram, with a series of cute clicks alongside husband Raghav Chadha. But it’s what came next that got fans smiling: “Alcaraz — you won last year too when I watched you at Wimbledon… I think I have something to do with it? Chalo, you can add me to your speech, no problem.” Humility to the core.

While Parineeti and Raghav were left exhausted after five and a half hours in their seats (relatable), the real warriors on court — Alcaraz and world No 1 Jannik Sinner — put on a show for the ages in the longest men’s final at Roland Garros. A five-set classic, full of grit, grind and serious cardio. The previous record was held by Mats Wilander and Guillermo Vilas in 1982 (4 hours and 42 minutes).

Alcaraz produced a stunning comeback, rallying from two sets down to beat top-ranked Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) after saving three match points to clinch his fifth Grand Slam title in as many finals. Alcaraz is the ninth man in the Open era to rally from two sets down to win a major final.

The 22-year-old Spaniard became the third youngest man in history to reach that milestone after Bjorn Borg (21) and Rafael Nadal (22). And it was the fifth time in succession Alcaraz has beaten Sinner overall.

It was only the third time that a men’s singles Grand Slam final has been decided by a fifth-set tiebreaker after Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev at the 2020 U.S. Open, and Djokovic beat Roger Federer at the 2019 Wimbledon final.

Raghav, not to be outdone, also shared his fanboy moment: “Tennis in Paris — we watched two warriors go five and a half hours under the sun… Take a bow Alcaraz. Neither of them deserved to lose.”

With her second live Grand Slam win for Team Alcaraz, it might be time for tournament organisers to start sending Parineeti an invite. Or at least a courtside seat and a custom jersey. Lucky charms need front-row treatment too.