Italian retains his title with close victory over Zverev
It’s becoming quite the habit – Jannik Sinner suffers a big disappointment at Roland-Garros and rebounds by storming to the Wimbledon title just a few weeks later.
For the second year in a row, the Italian world No.1 has been able to put his Paris woes behind him in impressive fashion to reign supreme at SW19.
Last year, he had just lost a heartbreaking Roland-Garros final to Carlos Alcaraz, after holding three match points.
This year, Sinner overcame a worrying second round exit in the French capital, after leading by two sets and 5-1 in the third, succumbing to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in some difficult warm conditions.
His response was once again immediate, as he successfully defended his Wimbledon crown by defeating second-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in a high-quality final on Sunday.
“It goes to show the maturity of the player that we're working with in Jannik, that he can take a kick in the guts like that, come back here, work his a** off,” said Darren Cahill, one of Sinner’s coaches, after the final.
“We got here 12 days early, didn't play a lead-in tournament, so we knew the first couple matches were going to be really difficult for him to get through. He just puts his head down and goes to work. He's had a great attitude throughout this entire tournament.
“He's going to have a long, distinguished career. He's going to put himself in a position to win more of these majors. I don't think this one was any more important than any of the others that he's played, but it felt da** special, that's for sure.”
It was a star-studded affair at the All England Club, with the likes of Andrew Garfield, Jennifer Lopez, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Rami Malek, Ben Stiller, Tom Hiddleston, and Lily Collins all in attendance, and the tennis did not disappoint.
Sinner clinched his tour-leading sixth title of the year, his 100th career Grand Slam match-win, and became the 10th man in the Open Era to retain the Wimbledon title.
It marked his fifth Grand Slam triumph and he now owns a 44-3 win-loss record in 2026.
“Standing here, you can feel the nerves on Sunday morning when you wake up that this is a very, very special day and you never know how many times you can come back on Sunday. So, I never take things for granted, playing in front of very, very special people throughout the whole couple of weeks,” said Sinner in his victory speech.
The 24-year-old had an excellent serving day, as he fired 15 aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points, and 65% of his second-serve points. He faced one break point throughout the entire match, which he saved, and finished the final with 58 winners and just 25 unforced errors.
Zverev was almost just as prolific on serve.
The reigning Roland-Garros champion was looking to become the first player in the Open Era to win a second Grand Slam men’s singles title at the next Grand Slam event after winning his first major.
He fired 17 aces, landed 76 percent of his first serves in, and conceded just one break of serve in each of the third and fourth sets en route to defeat.
Despite the loss, Zverev will rise to No.2 in the world on Monday, leapfrogging Alcaraz, who has been out injured since April.
The 29-year-old German has now lost to Sinner for a 10th consecutive time – five of which have come this season.
“First of all, Jannik, I don’t really like you anymore. I lost to you nine [10] times in a row,” joked Zverev in his runner-up speech.
“No, but first of all congratulations to Jannik. He showed once again why he’s the best playing the world. It was great to share the Centre Court with you on finals weekend, it’s a great honour to be here. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way but congratulations to you.”
Zverev had never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon in nine previous appearances but carried momentum from his Roland-Garros title run last month into the grass swing this time around.
Speaking to his team, Zverev continued: “We had a pretty good two months I would say, even though we lost this final, we had an amazing two months.
“We came into Wimbledon never reaching the quarter-finals and we played our first Wimbledon final and at 29 years old, it is the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy, so thanks to you guys as well.”
As Andre Agassi noted from the commentary box four games into the final, Zverev had the slightly better start to the match, hitting aggressively and unloading on serve.
He fittingly took the first-set tiebreak before Sinner began to fiddle around with his return position and found an edge – a very slight one, to complete a 3hr 46min victory.
“As Sascha did, I’d like to start with you and your whole team and family. You reached one of your main goals, winning Grand Slams and you made it happen in Paris. Today you were so, so close. If you play like this I’m very, very sure you’re going to have this one at home as well,” said Sinner on court.
“Keep going, I know the goal is for you to be No.1 in the world. You’re very, very close, so I have to be very careful now. But congrats,” he added generously, despite being nearly 5,000 points ahead of Zverev in the rankings.
“We both started off very well, serving very fast. We prepared in the best possible way, me and my team, so I have to thank obviously the whole team, the whole support I get from the whole box.
“It has been an amazing final. It always takes two players. Me and Sascha tried to give everything we have. I’m very happy of course about the win, but I’m mostly very happy about the level we both played.”
ROLAND-GARROS
17 May - 6 June 2027
