Jannik Sinner took pride in again bouncing back from adversity as he celebrated retaining his Wimbledon title.
The world number one dramatically wilted in the heat in Paris but stamped his authority firmly back on men’s tennis by battling to a 6-7 (7) 7-6 (2) 6-3 6-4 victory over Alexander Zverev to claim a fifth major crown.
Zverev was the man to take advantage of Sinner’s shock exit at the French Open, winning a long-awaited first grand slam title, and he threw everything at his opponent for three hours and 46 minutes.
Twelve months ago, Sinner arrived in London on the back of a heartbreaking five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros, and he said: “I think every grand slam is different – 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.
“We put in a lot of work days in Monaco, very, very long. 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.”
After losing nine matches in a row and 14 sets against the Italian, Zverev knew he had to do something different and his intention was clear from the start.
The German stands 6ft 6in and hits the ball as sweetly as any player yet often in his career he has hung metres behind the baseline and relied on his defensive skills.
His forehand has also been prone to breaking down but he picked up where he left off in his semi-final against Britain’s Arthur Fery, stepping into the court and unleashing on the ball.
Sinner had the only break point in the first two sets but Zverev was marginally the better player and he crouched, clenching both fists towards his team after powering away a forehand winner to take the opener.
Sinner’s forehand had not quite clicked but he found it at just the right time to dominate the second-set tie-break, and the key to the contest came in the middle of the third set.
First Zverev slipped over on his only break point of the match, clutching his knee before being helped to his feet by Sinner.
Then the Italian brought up his own chance in the next game and took it, prompting Zverev to fling his racket across the turf in frustration.
The German upped his level again in the fourth but a brilliant returning game from Sinner at 3-3 ultimately proved just enough.
Sinner was facing the prospect of being a dominant world number one without holding a grand slam trophy, but he said of his emotions: “I don’t think it’s relief, to be honest.
“There is no failure if you don’t win a grand slam. It’s very, very rare days. Now I have five in my whole life. You just want to enjoy it. Today was a very tough day. If I lose, it’s still a great day.”
It was also a 100th grand slam match win for the world number one, who earned royal approval from the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince George and Princess Charlotte in the front row of the Royal Box.
“I think you can really see that they love the sport,” said Sinner. “This is exactly how we feel as players on court when we see them watching tennis.”
For Zverev, there was the disappointment of a fourth slam final defeat – one at each tournament now – having come so close, but also the satisfaction of by far his best performance at Wimbledon.
He will overtake the much-missed Carlos Alcaraz to be world number two on Monday, and he said: “At 29 years old this is actually the first time I believe I can win this trophy.
“Compared to where I was last year, it’s obviously a very different championship for me. Of course, I would have loved to lift the trophy, but he was better than me today, and he deserves to win.”
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