Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon title with a four-set victory against French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Centre Court.
World No 1 Sinner bounced back after wilting in the Paris heatwave in the second round at Roland-Garros to claim his fifth Grand Slam title with a 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4 victory.
Zverev, the first men’s singles finalist from Germany since Boris Becker in 1995, had been attempting to become the first man in the professional era [since 1968] to win his second Grand Slam at the next event immediately after his first.
The win placed Sinner in rare company as the 10th man in the professional era to successfully defend the title, strengthening his credentials as one of the dominant players of his generation while he chases down big rival Carlos Alcaraz’s seven majors.
Both finalists slugged it out for 12 games in a high-octane first set on a warm and windy afternoon, before Zverev moved up a gear and hit a powerful forehand winner to clinch a gripping tiebreak, yelling and crouching down in celebration.
The clean ball-striking continued but Zverev began to show signs of frustration late in the second set, where a much more animated Sinner gained the upper hand in the tiebreak and went on to level the contest at one set apiece.
Zverev brought up his first break point midway through the third set after more than two and a half hours, but slipped and fell to the ground after being wrong-footed by a Sinner drop shot. With Zverev screaming out in agony, the Centre Court crowd gasped when he rolled onto his back clutching his right knee.
The second seed dusted himself off and carried on but was left seething when Sinner pounced in the next game to break for a 5-3 lead, slamming his racket to the floor, and soon found himself trailing the Italian two-sets-to-one after nearly three hours of battle.
Sinner broke again for a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set as Zverev’s level briefly dipped, and the 24-year-old held firm in an entertaining spell to complete the victory and then collapsed to the threadbare turf in celebration.
