Italian top seed Jannik Sinner retained his Wimbledon men's singles title after rallying from a set down to beat German second seed Alexander Zverev in a high-quality final on Sunday.
The 6-7 (7-9), 7-6 (7-2) 6-3, 6-4 victory is a fifth Grand Slam title for 24-year-old Sinner and first of the year after he also beat record men's major winner Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
"I'm very happy of course about the win but I'm mostly very happy about the level we both played," Sinner said, continuing to praise Zverev.
"If you play like this I'm very, very sure you are going to have this one at home as well," he said pointing at the trophy.
Sinner has now won 10 consecutive matches against Zverev, who started on the front foot but appeared to be troubled by a minor knee problem as the match wore on.
The German was buoyed by finally winning a Grand Slam title at the French Open last month, when the Italian was shocked by Juan Manuel Cerúndolo in the second round.
With Australian Open winner Carlos Alcaraz injured for both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Zverev took advantage by making both finals and will overtake the Spaniard as world number two on Monday.
But the 29-year-old's hopes of being the first person born in the 1990s to win the men's Wimbledon title was dashed.
"Jannik, I don't really like you anymore," Zverev joked. "He showed once again why he is the best player in the world.
"We had a pretty good two months I'd say even though we lost this final."
Zverev has looked much calmer this fortnight given the weight that was lifted off his shoulders by his Paris triumph.
The first set went with serve amid a barrage of powerful hitting in the London heat, with Sinner missing a sole break point at 4-3.
Zverev then prevailed in a tight tie-break with a ferocious forehand winner, ending a run of 14 consecutive sets lost against Sinner.
A-listers and royals watch on
The Italian went deep behind the baseline when returning at times while the German was hitting the ball cleaner than his rival initially. Zverev also routinely went beyond the serve clock but was not punished by the umpire.
Watched by a hosts of Hollywood A-listers and royalty, neither player had any real sniff of a break in the second set but Sinner won the tie-break easily.
Sinner, who also beat Zverev in the 2025 Australian Open final, raised his intensity as shadows started to creep over Centre Court but offered up a break point at 3-3, only for Zverev to tumble and hold his knee.
The Italian ran round the net to help his opponent up and Zverev was able to continue but failed to break serve.
The German seemed still to be feeling the knee and Sinner broke for 5-3 and then took the third set.
He repeated the trick in the decider for a 4-3 lead and confidently wrapped up his successful title defence in 3 hours 46 minutes, his longest match on grass.
The last German men's singles winner at Wimbledon was Michael Stich in 1991 and the wait will go on for Zverev, who has reached the top in tennis despite severe diabetes.
Sinner, a German speaker from the South Tyrol region of north-eastern Italy, will now head into the hard-court season ahead of the August 30-September 13 US Open in confident mood.
There is no word yet whether great rival Alcaraz will be fit after his wrist injury.
- Jannik Sinner
- Wimbledon
- Title
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
