Credit: Wimbledon
London, July 13 (IANS) Defending champion Jannik Sinner successfully kept his Wimbledon title, defeating French Open champion Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a high-quality final at the centre court on Sunday.
This victory marks his second consecutive title at the All England Club and the fifth Grand Slam trophy of his career. The 24-year-old continued his impressive dominance over the German, achieving a 10th straight win against Zverev. However, his streak of 14 consecutive sets won against him ended when he dropped the opening-set tiebreak.
Zverev, 29, was hoping to claim a second straight major title but was once again stopped by the world's top-ranked player. He now has an 0-7 record against No. 1-ranked players at Grand Slams. Sinner clinched the victory in style, hitting a stunning crosscourt backhand winner off a Zverev drop shot to earn championship point. He then finished the match with a powerful forehand winner up the line. After winning, the Italian collapsed onto the grass in celebration and embraced Zverev at the net.
After narrowly losing a fiercely contested opening-set tie-break, the Italian responded with remarkable composure to edge the second set in another tie-break before taking complete control of the contest. Sinner’s relentless baseline hitting, superior returning and calm temperament proved decisive as he sealed the biggest title of his career.
Although Zverev fired 17 aces and landed 80 percent of his first serves, Sinner was more clinical in the crucial moments. The Italian won 80 per cent of points on his first serve, claimed 68 percent on his second serve, converted two of his five break-point opportunities, and dominated from the baseline by winning 43 receiving points compared to Zverev’s 34.
Sinner finished the match with 145 points to Zverev’s 130 and won 25 games overall, underlining his consistency across the three-hour-plus contest.
The victory marks Sinner’s second Wimbledon crown and further cements his status as one of the sport’s leading stars, while Zverev’s wait for a maiden Grand Slam title continues despite another valiant effort on one of tennis’ biggest stages.
Brief score:
Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final: Jannik Sinner (Italy) bt Alexander Zverev (Germany) 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4.
Every Grand Slam is different, but this one means a lot: Sinner on Wimbledon glory
After winning his Grand Slam major, Jannik Sinner emphasised the meaning of his latest major win and said every major is different, but the taste of this Wimbledon triumph has all its own flavour.
Maybe there’s something about a traumatic reverse at Roland-Garros that instils in Sinner a particular hunger for Wimbledon. Last year he arrived here after losing to Carlos Alcaraz from three Championship points up in the Paris final and won his first Wimbledon.
This time he played the final here 45 days after Juan Manuel Cerundolo overturned Sinner’s two-set lead in the second round at Roland-Garros… and won his second Wimbledon crown.
The Italian repelled the three-hour, 46-minute all-out attack from Alexander Zverev to win 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4.
“I think every Grand Slam is different,” Sinner said in his post-match press conference after his win. “Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament. 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. Definitely sacrificing a lot of my time and everything to be in this position. Having this achievement, it means a lot to me. It was an amazing day today," he added.
Sinner entered Sunday’s title showdown on a nine-match winning streak against Zverev in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Yet the second-seeded German, riding high after winning his first major crown at Roland Garros last month, threatened to snap that run by bringing some of his best tennis to their latest encounter, particularly up to the second-set tie-break.
"Big, big respect to Sascha, because he's doing something amazing," Sinner said. "His game is growing and growing. In the same time, that's exactly what's good, because you have always someone who is pushing you to the limit.
"We hope that Carlos Alcaraz is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him. Having Novak Djokovic still around, having all the young players coming, it's really, really nice. At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like this," he said.
With his second grass court major win, Sinner extended his lead over Alcaraz in their Big Titles battle. This was his 17th ‘Big Title’ – a combination of Grand Slam championships, trophies at the ATP Finals and ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and Olympic singles gold medals. Alcaraz owns 15 big titles.Sinner earned his first Grand Slam crown since Wimbledon one year ago and his fifth major title overall. The Italian has lifted all of his Slam trophies since the start of the 2024 season. Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner beats Zverev to claim back-to-back titles | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
