London: Jannik Sinner has defended his Wimbledon title to end a run of grand slam heartache and match great rival Carlos Alcaraz’s feat as a back-to-back champion on the hallowed grass.
Italy’s world No.1 withstood losing his first set in six matches to German second seed Alexander Zverev – a stretch of 14 straight sets – to prevail 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-4 after an outstanding serving exhibition from both men across three hours and 46 minutes. It was his 10th win in a row over Zverev.
Sinner, 24, had not won a grand slam trophy since beating Alcaraz in last year’s final at the All England club.
Since then, Alcaraz delivered him a sobering defeat in the US Open decider, a 38-year-old Novak Djokovic stunned him in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals, then he lost in the second round at Roland-Garros from two sets and 5-1 up over Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
There could have been another addition this fortnight, given Sinner trailed Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic by two sets to one in the first round, but he dodged that potential disaster on his way to creating more tennis history for himself and his country.
Sinner’s fifth major title draws him level with Jean Borotra, Don Budge, Tony Trabert and Australia’s Frank Sedgman, but he still trails the injured Alcaraz by two.
“For me, this one means a lot because it was a tough one after Paris again. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best possible position to be as competitive as possible,” Sinner said.
“We put in a lot of work days in Monaco – very, very long. Definitely, I sacrificed a lot of my time and everything to be in this position. Having this achievement means a lot to me. It was an amazing day today.
“Big respect to Sascha [Zverev] because he’s doing something amazing. His game is growing [which is good] because you always have someone who is pushing you to the limit. We hope that Carlos is coming back as well because tennis needs him. Having Novak still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really nice.”
It was the conclusion of a breakthrough period for Zverev, who not only claimed his maiden grand slam title at Roland-Garros, but also reached his first Wimbledon final.
“Jannik, I don’t really like you any more. I’ve lost to you many times in a row, but he showed once again why he’s the best player in the world, and it’s great to share centre court with you on finals weekend,” Zverev said.
“To my team, we had a pretty good two months, I would say, even though we lost this final. We came to Wimbledon never reaching a quarter-finals, and we played our first Wimbledon final. At 29 years old, this was the first time I actually believed I could win this trophy.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales, plus their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, watched from the Royal Box, along with movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Nicole Kidman and Rami Malek.
Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 men’s champion, and wife Bec were also in the exclusive area, hours after watching their son Cruz lose a thrilling three-setter in the boys’ final.
The opening set was going according to the script when, after a competitive start dominated by serve, Zverev was the first to face a break point at 3-4. But something unexpected occurred: Sinner did a very un-Sinner-like thing, shanking a forehand wide.
Zverev survived to reach four-all. It was an early sign that this might not be another Sinner procession, like the past nine clashes between this pair.
In a match-up between arguably the sport’s two best servers, they combined for five aces in the eventual tiebreak – most whistling by at, or faster than, 209km/h – but Zverev looked the sturdier throughout.
Sinner got away with a drop shot that landed on the sideline on Zverev’s first set point, and had a set point of his own that the German saved with a 216km/h ace out wide.
Then, after edging 8-7 ahead, Zverev’s big moment arrived.
The No.2 seed has copped criticism in these kinds of matches for playing it too safe. But on his second set point, he unleashed a full-blooded forehand that whizzed past the Italian’s racquet. Zverev’s reaction afterwards was even bigger.
Similarly important was how Zverev came through a multi-deuce service game to open the second set, which again mostly offered little for the returner.
The tiebreaker was far different in set two, and that had everything to do with Sinner suddenly getting a read on Zverev’s towering serve. He made outstanding returns on the German’s first two serves, and benefited from two relatively cheap errors to surge 4-0 ahead.
That development felt more significant than Sinner just levelling the match soon after, following more than two hours of battle.
After a comfortable Sinner hold, he heaped the pressure on Zverev again, blasting a forehand winner to reduce him to 0-30. Mere centimetres separated Sinner from bringing up multiple break points in the same game, but Zverev escaped.
Two games later, Zverev wriggled out of a 30-all game after starting it with a wild forehand that he previously was not gifting.
He stubbornly hung on for long enough to be ready when Sinner’s dip finally came in a dramatic three-all game. Sinner mishit a crosscourt forehand to go 0-30 down, then made an error in judgment soon after to present Zverev with his first break point.
Sinner pushed Zverev behind the baseline then dished up a drop shot, only for his rival to slip and immediately grab for his right knee.
Both Sinner and chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore checked on him, but Zverev managed to continue. A bigger blow followed once Sinner held.
Zverev endured another tight service game, then, at deuce, he narrowly struck a forehand long to give Sinner his chance. Missing his first serve only heightened the pressure before Zverev wildly misfired on another forehand to hand over the first break of the match.
Zverev sent his racquet flying across the court in disgust. That could have marked the end of Zverev’s resistance, but he was not done.
He nailed an overhead winner to sink Sinner to 0-30 in the fourth game of the fourth set.
A rally broke out on the next point that Sinner won with an extreme-angle crosscourt backhand that left Zverev exasperated as the Italian went on to hold serve again.
Halfway to a third tiebreak for the contest, Sinner made his charge. He won a spectacular point to start Zverev’s service game at three-all, and soon earned another break point, but the world No.3 staved that one off with a volley, followed by a defiant stare towards his team.
But Sinner took it out of Zverev’s hands on his second opportunity, pounding a forehand past him to secure the break.
Zverev made one last-gasp push as Sinner served for the title – and it took more brilliance from the Italian to hang on before drilling an inside-out forehand to seal the deal.
Marc McGowan travelled to London with Tennis Australia’s support.
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