LONDON – Jannik Sinner claimed his first Wimbledon title with a revenge-fuelled win over Carlos Alcaraz, a month after his heartbreaking defeat to the Spaniard in the Roland Garros final.
The Italian prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to deny Alcaraz a third consecutive Wimbledon crown—an achievement only four men in the Open Era have pulled off: Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Björn Borg.
Sinner dropped to his knees at Centre Court, slapping the grass with his hand—an emotional release after the anguish of Paris.
“I had a very tough loss in Paris. I tried to accept it and keep working — that’s the reason I’m holding this trophy right now,” said Sinner during the trophy ceremony.
Then he turned to his opponent: “You’re going to hold this trophy many more times.” He smiled and added, “Well, you already did it twice.”
When both players walked onto court, the tension was palpable. The hype surrounding the match was immense, fuelled by their epic French Open final, already hailed as one of the greatest Grand Slam matches of all time.
Sinner had tempered expectations beforehand: “We don’t know if it’ll be as good as last time, but we’ll give it our all.” The bar was simply too high.
This wasn’t clay—it was grass. Shorter rallies. Greater emphasis on serve.
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The highlights of the first two sets were the set points themselves—one for each player.
In the opener, Alcaraz broke to take the set with one of the finest points of the match. After a fierce rally, he countered a deep forehand from Sinner with a stunning backhand defence to seal it. Centre Court erupted.
In the second, Sinner struck back. Under pressure, he clawed his way back into the rally and finished with a blazing cross-court winner.
One of the strangest moments came when a cork from a champagne bottle flew onto the court as Sinner prepared to serve. The Italian casually picked it up himself. Very Wimbledon.
Apart from that, the match offered less electricity than expected.
The third set remained tight until Alcaraz’s serve began to let him down. He struggled with his percentages throughout, and Sinner pounced. A break in the ninth game, followed by a confident service hold, gave the Italian the lead—and visibly rattled Alcaraz.
“From the baseline, he’s much better than me! Way better than me!” the Spaniard shouted to his team box in frustration.
His dropshots—so effective in his back-to-back title runs in 2023 and 2024—kept falling short or sitting up.
In the fourth, Sinner held his nerve. At 4-3, he fended off two break points, silencing a Centre Court crowd chanting “Carlos, Carlos” in hopes of a deciding set.
But the Italian stayed composed, served it out—and ended a five-match losing streak against his great rival.
Sinner is now officially a Wimbledon champion and a member of the All England Club.
It’s the fourth Grand Slam title of his career, adding to his Australian Open titles (2023, 2024) and US Open crown (2024).
