LONDON: Italian top seed Jannik Sinner resisted an all-out onslaught by an inspired Alexander Zverev to retain his Wimbledon crown in a thunderous final and claim a fifth Grand Slam title on Sunday (Jul 12).
Zverev, in his first Wimbledon final hot on the heels of winning the French Open, threatened an upset after taking an intense opening set, but eventually ran out of firepower as Sinner hit back to win 6-7(7) 7-6(2) 6-3 6-4.
The destiny of the title was still on a knife edge nearly three hours into an absorbing duel, but second seed Zverev’s resistance finally cracked after a nasty tumble in the third set, and Sinner surged to victory.
Sinner, 24, became the first Italian to win a Wimbledon singles title last year by beating Carlos Alcaraz, and now joins an elite list of 10 men to successfully defend it in the professional era.
It was a 10th successive victory for Sinner over Zverev, but this time he was pushed to the limit by the 29-year-old, who had been bidding to become the first German man to win the Wimbledon title since Michael Stich in 1991.
Sinner suffered a second-round meltdown at the French Open and was close to a first-round exit against Miomir Kecmanovic a fortnight ago, but ended the tournament back at his best, not dropping a single service game in the semi-final and final.
“There’s no better place, honestly, to play tennis,” Sinner said as he cradled the pineapple-topped Challenge Cup.
“I’m standing here. You can feel the nerves in a Sunday morning when you wake up, that this is a very special day, and you never know how many times you can come back. So I never take things for granted.
“It always takes two players. We try to give everything we have, I’m very happy about the win but mostly very happy also about the level we played.”
On a hot and breezy Centre Court, an intense 65-minute first set full of heavy-metal tennis boiled down to tiny margins.
Only one break point was on offer in the opening 12 games, with Sinner missing his chance at 4-3 on the Zverev serve when he uncharacteristically framed a forehand wide.
The pace and accuracy of Zverev’s forehand, often his Achilles heel at big moments during his career, was impressive, and he dropped only eight points on serve in the opener.