Jannik Sinner delivered a clinical performance to successfully defend his Wimbledon title, battling past French Open champion Alexander Zverev in a bruising four-set final on Sunday.
The world number one recovered from losing the first set in a match largely dominated by serve, eventually wearing Zverev down to secure a 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-4 win on Sunday.
His perseverance earned him a first Grand Slam title since lifting the trophy at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club 12 months ago. Sinner’s fifth Grand Slam crown puts him just two behind the majors tally of his injured rival Carlos Alcaraz, after he notched his 100th match win at tennis’s four biggest events.
He hit 58 winners against only 25 unforced errors in three hours and 46 minutes on Centre Court, refusing to buckle against an in-form Zverev, who brought a 13-match winning streak at the majors into the final.
Sinner has banished the memories of his shock second-round exit from the French Open at the hands of Juan Manuel Cerundolo, when he blew a two-set lead last month.
The closest he came to crashing out of Wimbledon happened in the first round, when he had to come from behind to beat Miomir Kecmanovic in five sets. It stayed plain sailing from then on for Sinner, who has become a fearsome force on grass. The 24-year-old now boasts a remarkable 44-3 win-loss record this year after winning his sixth title of the season.
Zverev had never even reached the quarterfinals in nine previous visits to Wimbledon, but arrived in London a man reborn after finally breaking his Grand Slam duck in Paris. He managed to take a first set off Sinner in seven meetings, but couldn’t kick on to snap a now 10-match losing streak against a seemingly unbreakable rival. Zverev, who had been bidding to become the first German man to win the trophy since Michael Stich in 1991, will climb above Alcaraz to second in the ATP rankings on Monday.
Zverev saved the only break point of a tight first set dominated by serve as it went to a tie-break, clinching it with a fizzing forehand winner after both men saved set points. Neither player faced a break point in the second set as they traded blows to 6-6, but Sinner stepped it up in the tie-break to level the match.
Zverev created his first break point in the seventh game of the third set, but slipped when Sinner dinked over a drop-shot winner. He clutched his knee and Sinner crossed the net to check on him, though the German got back on his feet with help from the Italian. Sinner broke serve in the next game and served out the set to love with an ace, sealing a two-sets-to-one lead.
Zverev threw his racquet angrily across the turf after looping a forehand long on that break point, having earlier been left lying flat on the turf during the same rally.
He tried to prolong the contest, but his race ended when Sinner broke for a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set.
Sinner wrapped up the title on serve despite a dramatic final game featuring two of the best rallies of the match, falling to the turf in celebration after slapping away a forehand winner on his first match point.
