Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner said Alexander Zverev nearly pushed him over the edge in a thrilling, high-intensity final, as the Italian captured an “amazing” fifth Grand Slam crown.
The top seed lost a set for just the third time across his seven matches at this year’s tournament, with Zverev taking the opening set in Sunday’s showpiece on Centre Court.
Sinner, however, refused to let the early jolt derail him. He fought back to win 6-7 (7⁄9), 7-6 (7⁄2), 6-3, 6-4, overcoming Zverev’s firm resistance in a contest that swung repeatedly.
With the triumph, Sinner has now won consecutive Wimbledon titles, ending a 12-month gap since his previous major success—his first All England Club title in 2025.
After the match, Sinner praised Zverev for forcing him to earn every point in a final defined by heavy serving and punishing rallies, saying: “You reached one of your main goals in Paris. Here you were so close.
“If you play like this I’m sure you are going to have one of these trophies.
“We both started off very well, serving very fast. It has been an amazing final once again. It takes two players.
“I’m very happy about the win but I’m mostly very happy about the level we played. There is no better place to play tennis.”
Zverev is set to move into second place behind Sinner in the ATP rankings next week, and Sinner acknowledged he believes the 29-year-old remains a serious threat.
“I know another of your goals is to be world number one. You are very close. I have to be careful now,” he said, smiling.
Sinner also explained that he felt nerves on the morning of the final, but he steadied himself and delivered a typically ruthless performance when it mattered most.
“You can feel the nerves on Sunday morning, it is a very special place,” he said. “You never know how many times you are going to come back. I never take it for granted.”
Zverev, though defeated by an almost flawless Sinner, insisted he had no regrets. The Italian created just one break point opportunity in the final, underlining his control and efficiency.
“Jannik, I don’t really like you anymore to be fair! I’ve lost to you 10 times in a row,” Zverev said. “He’s shown once again why he’s the best player in the world. It was great to share Centre Court with you in the final this weekend, unfortunately it didn’t go my way, but congratulations to you first of all.”
Although the German second seed leaves the All England Club without a trophy, his path to the championship match—coming only weeks after he finally ended his wait for his first major title in Paris—signals that he is now a recurring presence when titles are on the line.
“We had a pretty good two months, I’d say, even though we lost this final. We had an amazing two months, we came into Wimbledon never reaching a quarter-final and we played our first Wimbledon final,” he said.
“At 29 years old, it’s the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy (in the future).”
