LONDON: Jannik Sinner retained his Wimbledon title by beating Alexander Zverev 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4 in the final on Sunday to win his fifth Grand Slam crown and extend his dominance over the German to 10 straight victories.
The victory placed Sinner in rare company as the 10th man in the professional era to successfully defend the title, cementing his credentials as one of the dominant players of his generation while chasing his great rival Carlos Alcaraz’s seven majors.
“Honestly, there’s no better place to play tennis,” Sinner said while holding the pineapple-topped Challenge Cup.
“I’m here. You can feel the nervousness on a Sunday morning when you wake up, that it’s a very special day, and you never know how many times you can come back. So I never take things for granted.
“Playing in front of some very special people throughout these two weeks. It has been incredible. Thank you for your support. You are always incredible to me and you have given me the most special feeling a tennis player can ever have.”
Zverev quickly takes the lead
The two finalists battled for 12 games in a high-octane first set on a hot and windy afternoon, before Zverev shifted gears and hit a powerful forehand winner to clinch a gripping tiebreak, screaming and crouching in celebration.
The clean hitting continued, but Zverev began to show signs of frustration late in the second set, where a much more animated Sinner took over in the tiebreak and leveled the match at one set apiece.
Injury alert for German
Zverev scored his first break point midway through the third set after more than 2 1/2 hours, but slipped and fell to the ground after being wrong-footed by a Sinner drop shot. As Zverev screamed in pain, the Center Court crowd gasped as he rolled onto his back clutching his right knee.
The second seed dusted herself off and continued, but was left seething when Sinner surged in the next game to take a 5-3 lead, slamming her racket to the ground, and quickly found herself trailing two sets to one after nearly three hours of battle.
Sinner takes full control
Sinner broke again for a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set as Zverev’s level briefly dropped, and the 24-year-old held on in an entertaining spell to complete the victory, then collapsed on the threadbare turf to celebrate.
A dejected Zverev was left to reflect on what could have been after a fourth Grand Slam final defeat.
“I don’t really like you anymore,” Zverev jokingly told Sinner.
“To be honest, I lost to you nine (sic) times in a row,” he added, losing count of his losing streak against Sinner.
“Congratulations to Jannik, he showed once again why he is the best player in the world. It was great to share center court with you during the final weekend. It’s a great honor to be here. Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I wanted.”
