Jannik Sinner beats Alexander Zverev to win Wimbledon, buries French Open heartbreak with fifth Grand Slam

LONDON: Jannik Sinner stared down the very best of Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon final and never blinked in the face of monstrous serves and rapier forehands. The world No. 1 recorded his 100th Grand Slam match win with a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4 victory on a warm Sunday evening in southwest London.Sinner, who collected £3,600,000 in prize money for his fifth Grand Slam title, collapsed onto Centre Court in celebration, the triumph wiping away some of the painful memories of his second-round exit at last month's French Open.The 24-year-old champion began his victory speech by pointing out that his mother had ducked out of her seat a couple of times during the final. “There is no better place to play tennis,” he said, “Standing here you can feel the nerves on Sunday morning when you wake up that this is a very, very special day.

You never know how many times you can come back on Sunday. Thanks for the support. You’re always amazing to me. You gave me the most special feeling a tennis player can feel.

” Zverev applauded the champion. “Jannik showed once again why he’s the best player in the world.”Of the two men in the middle, it was Zverev, playing his tenth Wimbledon, who dictated much of the opening set. Sinner may have led the rivalry 10-4, having won their previous nine meetings, the last six in straight sets, but their 15th encounter, and first on grass, always promised to be a different proposition.

Zverev was no longer chasing a breakthrough. He arrived as a Grand Slam champion with the confidence to take the match to the world No. 1.Ironically, it was Sinner who earned the first break-point opportunity, in the eighth game. Zverev responded with a 98 mph second serve, but the 24-year-old Italian mistimed his forehand to let the chance slip.The tie-break was the opening set in miniature. Sinner created another opportunity but squandered it with another errant forehand, before Zverev converted his second set point to claim his first set against the Italian after losing 14 consecutive sets to him.Zverev kept asking the questions in the second set, and for much of the 64-minute battle Sinner had no answers to the German's serve or thunderous forehand. Only when the set reached the tie-break did the momentum begin to shift. On the very first point, Zverev missed a forehand, prompting Sinner's box, a row of Wimbledon whites, to leap to its feet, with coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi leading the celebrations.

The Italian raced to a 4-0 lead and from there conceded just two points before closing the set.The third set hinged on a pair of games. Zverev earned the first break-point chance in the seventh but, after appearing to strain his right knee in a slip, could not capitalise. A game later, serving at 40-15, he unravelled with a series of loose points, perhaps feeling his knee, and conceded serve on a point during which Sinner himself slipped at the back of the court.

The Italian made no mistake, serving out the set to love for a two-sets-to-one lead.As the clock ticked beyond the three-hour mark, the conversation inevitably turned to a curious statistic. Sinner had never won a match lasting longer than three hours and 48 minutes, a number attached to several of the most painful defeats of his career. Sinner broke in the seventh game on his third opportunity and then stopped the clock at three-hours and 46-minutes.