CENTRE COURT — Jannik Sinner gained revenge for defeat at Roland Garros by denying Carlos Alcaraz a third straight Wimbledon title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Just 35 days on from an epic French Open final which he lost from match point up, Sinner won his fourth grand slam title and first at Wimbledon, handing Alcaraz a first defeat in 25 matches.
The great Roger Federer was the last man to play consecutive French Open and Wimbledon finals against the same opponent, beaten twice in 2008 by Rafael Nadal.
And Sinner looked like he might suffer the same fate at Spanish hands when Alcaraz pinched the first set, but he found his rhythm to win the next three and become the first Italian man to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon.
A late start
Sinner and Alcaraz made history even as they stepped on court: the All England Club had always refused to move the start time to avoid clashes with, say, football finals.
But once they realised a later start time would hit American TV markets better, they jumped at the opportunity.
That combined with a late-running women’s doubles final meant Alcaraz did not hit the first serve of the match until 4.20pm, the latest ever start time.
That was when the match begun, but it did not really get going until after 5pm, when Alcaraz implausibly tracked down a slapped Sinner forehand that would have been a winner against anyone else in the draw, and somehow sliced it back into the empty court.
It earned him the first set and, with a finger to his ear, the loudest roar of the championships.
A steely calmness on and off the court
Sinner’s mother was the viral star of the French Open final between these two but could not stay away. She was not in the box though, instead sending Sinner’s father Hanspeter into the more visible position. He barely moved for the first 90 minutes of the match.
When Sinner won the point of the match so far, running down an Alcaraz drop shot and whipping a backhand crosscourt to bring up set point, his father almost stood up. But didn’t quite.
A set a piece, and Hanspeter applauded but maintained his composure. His wife had clearly given him some advice before they went to seat in separate parts of the stand. They’re long matches, Hanspeter. Keep your powder dry.
Their son was showing similar, now trademark calmness, seemingly waiting for the dip in concentration that has become a worrying trait of Alcaraz’s grand slam performances. And so it came at 4-4 in the third set, as the Spaniard’s first serve deserted him.
He made just 42 per cent of them in the set and crucially missed twice at 30-30 to hand Sinner the break and a chance to serve it out. He showed Alcaraz how it is done with two huge first serves sealing the deal.
‘He’s much better than me!’
Unusually, Alcaraz looked panicked. He sat in the chair and ranted towards his coaches Juan Carlos Ferrero and Samuel Lopez. “He’s much better than me from the back of the court,” he complained, a statement that was as true as it was unchanging. Since the end of the first set, Sinner’s groundstrokes had become metronomic.
But chances would surely come and come they did in the shape of two break points at 4-3 in the fourth. They were Alcaraz’s first for two hours, in which time Sinner had moved to within two games of the title.
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But the Italian’s courage was remarkable. A powerful first serve saved the first one and a brave second serve, almost reaching 120 miles an hour, the second.
After that, you couldn’t doubt Sinner’s nerve, although when he failed to convert the first championship point, there were a few murmurs of “surely, not again?”.
Sinner agreed. Not again.