Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner admitted Alexander Zverev pushed him to the brink in a full-blooded final as the Italian clinched an “amazing” fifth Grand Slam title.
Sinner dropped a set for only the third time in his seven matches at this year’s tournament when Zverev took the opener in Sunday’s showpiece on Centre Court.
But the Italian world number one was unfazed by that early setback, roaring back to win 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-4 despite determined resistance from French Open champion Zverev.
Sinner has now won successive Wimbledon titles, ending his 12-month wait for another major triumph after his maiden victory at the All England Club in 2025.
Praising Zverev for making him work for the title in a match most notable for thunderous serving and ferocious ground-strokes, Sinner said: “You reached one of your main goals in Paris. Here you were so close.
“If you play like this I’m sure you are going to have one of these trophies.
“We both started off very well, serving very fast. It has been an amazing final once again. It takes two players.
“I’m very happy about the win but I’m mostly very happy about the level we played. There is no better place to play tennis.”
Zverev will move into second place behind Sinner in the ATP rankings next week and the Italian admitted he is under threat from the 29-year-old.
“I know another of your goals is to be world number one. You are very close. I have to be careful now,” he said with a smile.
Sinner revealed he was wracked with nerves on the the morning of the final, but he quelled the anxiety with a typically ruthless performance.
“You can feel the nerves on Sunday morning, it is a very special place,” he said.
“You never know how many times you are going to come back. I never take it for granted.”
Zverev had no regrets after falling to the almost-flawless Sinner, who faced just one break point in the final.
“Jannik, I don’t really like you anymore to be fair! I’ve lost to you 10 times in a row,” he said.
“He’s shown once again why he’s the best player in the world. It was great to share Centre Court with you in the final this weekend, unfortunately it didn’t go my way, but congratulations to you first of all.”
While the German second seed leaves the All England Club empty-handed, his run to the final — which came just weeks after he ended his long wait for a maiden Grand Slam crown in Paris — provided proof he is now a serial title contender.
“We had a pretty good two months, I’d say, even though we lost this final. We had an amazing two months, we came into Wimbledon never reaching a quarter-final and we played our first Wimbledon final,” he said.
“At 29 years old, it’s the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy (in the future).”
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 2-1/2 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.
Source: Khaleej Times