Sinner seals his Alcaraz revenge with Wimbledon title

Jannik Sinner took his Grand Slam revenge on rival Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, delivering a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 comeback triumph to win his first Wimbledon title five weeks after a painful French Open finals loss.

The Italian playing in his fourth straight final at a major won his second Slam trophy of the season after backing up his 2024 Australian Open title six months ago in Melbourne.

Alcaraz lost his chance for a Wimbledon hat-trick after winning the previous two editions.  

Sinner had dropped five consecutive matches in the series with his fellow 22-year-old and now becomes the first Italian to lift the trophy here.

Last month in Paris, Alcaraz rallied from two sets to love down, overhauling Sinner while saving three match points in a five-and a half-hour thriller which meant heartbreak for the loser.

But the emotions were reversed on the grass of SW19.

“It was a tough loss mentally in Paris,” Sinner said, “But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. We understood what was  wrong and we worked on it.

“We accepted the loss, but kept on working – that’s why I’m holding the trophy here today.”

Sinner’s box was filled with his parents and brother which Spain’s king also attended to support his payer.

The winner said that closing out the win is always a challenge. 

“In the last game I served really well. In best-of-five every moment can change the match.

“I’m happy I held my nerve.”

Sinner grabbed a break for 3-2 but became undone two games later with a break-back from Alcaraz, with the Spaniard capturing the opening set in 45 minutes as he won four straight games.

The Italian began the second set with a break as he worked to recover. The plan worked to perfection as Sinner squared the sets at one apiece with a running cross-court winner of set point..

Sinner took it in his stride when a champagne cork popped form a bottle and landed on the court as he was set to serve drew a rebuke to the Centre court crowd from the chair. 

“That’s why we love playing here,” he joked post-match after being presented his trophy by Catherine, Princess of Wales, who watched along husband William, the prince.

“It’s a very expensive tournament.” 

The top seed who will remain world No. 1 in Monday’s rankings took a tighter grip on the contest in the third set, frustrating his opponent with a break for 5-4 before serving into a two-set-to-one set lead.

The Alcaraz tension surfaced in the fourth set, with the Spaniard holding a nervous dialogue with his coach box as his momentum and body language faded slightly.

Sinner kept up the pressure with a love game for 1-all before breaking 2-1 with a return winner down the line.and following up with a second love game for a 3-1 lead.

The Italian top seed did not let up, threatening from 0-40 down as Alcaraz held on, 2-3 before Sinner took a 4-2 lead.

Sinner escaped a mini-crisis as he rescued two break points to climb to 5-3 before serving out on his second match point after three hours of play

“I would never have thought to be in this position” the player from Italy’s German-speaking north said.

“When I was young this was just a dream, it was so far away form where I’m from .”

Sinner’s win ended a 24-match win streak for Alcaraz and the Italian claimed his third Grand Slam title form the last four majors. 

“It was difficult to lose, but I have to congratulate Jannik once again for a well-deserved trophy,” Alcaraz said after losing his first Grand Slam final out of six played.

‘I’m happy and proud of everything I’ve been doing. At the start of the season I struggled on and off the court.

But now I’m happy on court again, I feel excitement when I step on. it’s been a great journey so far and I want to keep it going,” the world No. 2 added.

Main photo:- Jannik Sinner lifts his first Wimbledon Trophy – by Roger Parker ISF