Jannik Sinner wins men’s final over Alexander Zverev in four sets
London: Jannik Sinner defended his Wimbledon title to end a grand slam streak and match his great rival Carlos Alcaraz’s feat of becoming back-to-back champions on the hallowed turf.
Italy’s world No.1 endured losing his first set in six matches to German second seed Alexander Zverev – a run of 14 straight sets – to prevail 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, 6-4 after an outstanding display of service from both players. This was his 10th consecutive win against Zverev.
Sinner, 24, has not won a grand slam trophy at the All England club since defeating Alcaraz in last year’s final.
Alcaraz has since suffered a decisive defeat at the US Open, where 38-year-old Novak Djokovic stunned him in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals, then lost 5-1 to Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo in two sets in the second round at Roland-Garros.
Another addition could have been made this fortnight, given Sinner edged Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic by two sets to one in the first round, but he has weathered this potential disaster on his way to creating more tennis history for his country.
Sinner’s fifth major title puts him level with Jean Borotra, Don Budge, Tony Trabert and Australia’s Frank Sedgman, but he is still two points behind the injured Alcaraz.
“It was another great final. It always takes two players, me and Sascha [Zverev] We tried to give it everything we had,” Sinner said.
“Of course I’m very happy with the win, but I’m also very happy with the level we’re both playing at.
“Honestly, there’s no better place to play tennis. When you wake up on Sunday morning you can feel the nerves and you know it’s a very special day and you never know how many times you’re going to come back on Sunday, so I don’t take anything for granted.”
The opening set was going according to script and after a competitive start dominated by serve, Zverev was the first to face break points at 3-4. But something unexpected happened: The Sinner did something very un-Sinner-like and swung his forehand wide.
Zverev managed to reach four. This was an early sign that this might not be another Sinner tease like the last nine clashes between these two.
In a matchup between arguably the sport’s two best servers, they eventually combined to score five aces in the tiebreak – most whistled at 209 km/h or faster – but Zverev looked stronger throughout.
Sinner saved Zverev’s first set point with a shot that fell to the byline and the German had a set point of his own that he saved from a 216km/h angle.
Then came Zverev’s big moment after taking an 8-7 lead.
The No. 2 seed has come under criticism for playing too safe in such matches. But on the second set point, the Italian hit a thoroughbred forehand that raced past his racket. Afterwards, Zverev’s reaction was even greater.
Equally important, Zverev opened the second set by going through multiple double serve games, which did little for the returner.
Zverev’s best chance came with a clear cordon in the sixth game that reduced Sinner to 30-all; but the world No. 1 then retained the two points.
The second set tiebreaker was very different and it was all about Sinner’s sudden reading of Zverev’s rising serve. The German made spectacular returns on his first two serves and took advantage of two relatively cheap errors to take the lead 4-0.
This development felt more significant than Sinner equalizing the game shortly after after more than two hours of battle.
After a comfortable Sinner hold, he again intensified the pressure on Zverev and hit the winner with a forehand to reduce the score to 0-30. Sinner was only inches apart from creating multiple break points in the same game, but Zverev escaped.
Two games later, Zverev was stripped of a game-30 after starting with a wild forehand, which he had not done before.
He hung on doggedly long enough to be ready when Sinner’s slump finally led to a dramatic three-point play. Sinner miscued a cross-court forehand to go 0-30 down, then made an error of judgment to give Zverev the first break point.
Sinner pushed Zverev behind the baseline and then fired a shot, but his opponent slipped and immediately caught his right knee.
Both Sinner and chief referee Eva Asderaki-Moore checked him, but Zverev managed to continue. After Sinner held on, a bigger blow came.
Zverev withstood another tough serve game, then hit a narrow forehand to give Sinner a chance when tied. Missing his first serve added to the pressure before Zverev hit a wild forehand to concede the first break of the match.
Zverev threw his racket across the court in disgust. This might have marked the end of Zverev’s resistance, but he wasn’t done.
He secured an overall lead to reduce Sinner to 0-30 in the fourth game of the fourth set.
A rally broke out on the next point, which Sinner won with an extremely angled crosscourt backhand; The Italian player continued to serve again, infuriating Zverev.
With the third tiebreak of the contest remaining, Sinner went on the offensive. He won a superb point to start Zverev’s service game with a three-pointer and earned another break point soon after, but the world No. 3 parried it with a volley and then gave his team a defiant look.
However, Sinner took his second opportunity away from Zverev and hit him with a forehand to secure the break.
Zverev took one last gasp as Sinner served for the title, and the Italian needed more intelligence before firing an inside-out forehand to seal the deal.
Marc McGowan traveled to London with the support of Tennis Australia.
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