Sinner Overcomes Alcaraz To Win First Career Wimbledon Title

In a rematch of their French Open final epic just over a month ago, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz renewed their budding rivalry on Centre Court at the All-England Club on Sunday. 

Alcaraz was in search of his third straight Wimbledon title, while Sinner was not only looking for his first Wimbledon crown, but also to snap a five-match losing skid to Alcaraz.

And Sinner was able to do that, exacting his revenge with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory to capture his fourth career major title. 

“It’s mostly emotional, because I had a very tough loss in Paris,” Sinner said, referencing that French Open defeat. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or how you lose at important tournaments, you just have to understand what you did wrong and try to work on that, and that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and just keep working. This is for sure one of the reasons I am holding this trophy here.”

That mentality of learning from his mistakes in Paris was on full display on Sunday. Sinner jumped out to the early lead by securing the match’s first break, but would drop serve a couple of games later, and Alcaraz won the final four games of the set to move in front first.

But Sinner would halt Alcaraz’s momentum from there, breaking the Spaniard in the opening game of the second set, and he never looked back. He had his serve working, and his powerful two-handed backhand neutralized Alcaraz’s ability to take control of points. Sinner continued to dig deep into Alcaraz’s service games, aided by seven double faults from Alcaraz, and was relentless in his pursuit of his first Wimbledon title. 

Outside of the two service games he dropped in the first set, Sinner held serve through the second, third and fourth sets, while securing one break in each of those sets to remain in control. 

“The differences are very small and the margins are very tiny. Today I felt like that I got lucky [a] couple of times. I know hitting some lines; the things that went his way in Paris, went my way this time,” Sinner said. “The margins are so small. It felt like in the beginning we both were not serving well, but we struggled to return the second serve. Then after I found a good rhythm on the first serve, especially in the second and third set. In [the] fourth set, I had some moments where I served very well and then again struggled. But this is normal because if you play two, three or four hours, you cannot always play in the same way. So if you ask me the difference, [it was] very, very small. Today just went my way.”

The win bolsters Sinner’s lead atop the ATP Rankings, and he is now just a French Open title away from completing the Grand Slam. For Alcaraz, the loss is his first in the finals of a major, and his first defeat at Sinner’s hands since 2023.

“It’s difficult to lose. It’s always difficult to lose, even if it is in the final, but first of all I have to congratulate Jannik once again,” Alcaraz said during the trophy ceremony. “It is a really well-deserved trophy [after] an unbelievable two weeks here in London for you, playing great tennis. For your team as well. I know that there are a lot of family and a lot of friends watching you here, so it’s just an amazing team around you. I’m really happy for you. So just keep it going, and I’m really happy to be able to build a really good relationship off the court but then a good rivalry on the court. It makes me improve every day, so thank you very much and congratulations.”