Jannik Sinner staged a stunning recovery after he had dropped the opening set to beat Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and win his first Wimbledon title on Sunday. Italian World No.1 Sinner overpowered Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to claim his fourth Grand Slam crown, in addition to two Australian Opens and a US Open. This was the second consecutive Grand Slam final between both players, with Alcaraz defeating Sinner at the French Open in a five-set thriller last month.
For Sinner, the victory at Wimbledon was also his second Grand Slam crown of the year, after the Australian Open in January when he beat Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
The 23-year-old Italian overcame five straight losses to the Spaniard, specifically the five-set epic at Roland Garros when Sinner threw away a two-sets-to-love advantage and three match points. Here, Sinner kept his composure in a tight encounter to deprive Alcaraz of an opportunity for a third consecutive Wimbledon title and break the 22-year-old's perfect 5-0 record in Grand Slam finals.
The victory also ended Alcaraz's 24-match winning streak, a personal best, and a 20-match All England Club unbeaten streak in which he had won consecutive finals in 2023 and 2024, defeating Novak Djokovic each time.
Significantly, Sinner was the one who had defeated Alcaraz the last time at Wimbledon, in the fourth round of Wimbledon 2022.
So this was a bookend victory for Sinner, one that had to show everyone what he insisted on saying to everyone who would listen: No, there would not be any carryover from his disappointment in Paris. Hard to believe, though, that that meltdown didn't cross his mind at least a bit on Sunday, particularly when he encountered two break points while serving at 4-3, 15-40 in the fourth set.
But he was unruffled to take the next four points and hold there, and soon was serving to finish. When it finished, Sinner placed both hands on his white hat. Following the hug for Alcaraz at the net, Sinner knelt on court with head down, then slammed his right hand on the grass.
