Jannik Sinner patted himself on the back after digging deep into his well of mental resolve to take revenge on Carlos Alcaraz and win his first Wimbledon title.
Only five weeks have passed since Alcaraz stunningly saved three match points in a French Open final fightback for the ages but his hopes of a third straight victory in SW19 were dashed by his great rival.
This time it was world number one Sinner, the first Italian to win a Wimbledon singles title, that came from behind, claiming a 4-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory in three hours and four minutes – nearly two-and-a-half hours quicker than their Roland Garros epic.
“I think this is the part I’m the proudest of because it really has not been easy,” said Sinner, who only returned to the tour in May after serving a three-month doping ban.
“I always tried to be honest with me and had the self-talk too, what if, what if? I always tried to accept it. Things can happen.
“I believe if you lose a grand slam final that way, it’s much better like this than someone kills you. Then after you keep going, keep pushing.
“I did a lot of intensity in every practice because I felt like I could play very good. That’s why I also said after Roland Garros that it’s not the time to put me down, because another grand slam is coming up, and I did great here.”
The victory puts their rivalry back on a knife edge, with the 23-year-old now trailing Alcaraz only by five slam titles to four and putting an end to a five-match losing streak against the Spaniard.
It is also Sinner’s first slam title away from his favoured hard courts, while Alcaraz suffered a first major final defeat, unable to find the same magic that had brought him back from the brink on the clay.
A penny for the thoughts, meanwhile, of Grigor Dimitrov, who led Sinner by two sets to love in the fourth round only for his body to fail him.
Australian Darren Cahill, who has coached Sinner for the last three years, explained: “We didn’t speak about Roland Garros within 24 hours after the match, because the way he played, the attitude that he had on court, the effort that he gave, it was faultless, and he was just beaten by a better player in the end.
“I think you could see that from the first match that he played that he wasn’t carrying any baggage from Roland Garros.
“That’s not easy to do. It’s easy for us to say that in words, to put it to one side, but for the player to wipe it away and be able to come here with the mentality that he had is 100 per cent credit to him.”
Alcaraz expected Sinner to reset quickly and come at him again, with the Spaniard saying: “He didn’t surprise me at all. Champions learn from the losses.
“I knew at the beginning that he was going to learn from that final, not going to make the same mistakes. The way he played today, it was really, really high.”
There was an audible buzz around Centre Court as the pair warmed up, the sound of 15,000 people who could not believe their luck at having secured one of the hottest tickets in sport.
Alcaraz fought back from 4-2 down to win the opening set, finishing it with a classic point where he turned defence into attack and somehow scrambled a backhand winner.
But most of the champagne moments came from Sinner, who at one point was nearly struck by an errant cork.
After breaking in the opening game, Sinner finished the second set with three outstanding winners, while in the third he played a tweener drop volley.
Alcaraz was left on the floor as Sinner broke through in the third to lead 5-4, and he had one hand on the trophy when he moved further ahead early in the fourth.
The crowd willed Alcaraz to conjure a Paris-style recovery, and the 22-year-old had two chances at 4-3, but this time it was Sinner’s day.
“Today was important not just because it was a grand slam final, not just because it was Wimbledon, and not just because Carlos had won the last five matches against him,” said Cahill.
“He needed that win today. Today’s match I think was a match of moments, of just who was going to step up in the big moment and make something happen. At Roland Garros it was Carlos, and today it was Jannik. So we could not be more proud of him.”
Like Sinner five weeks ago, Alcaraz was able to find the positives, saying: “It’s always a bad feeling losing matches. I think it’s a little bit even worse when you lose in a final.
“Overall I’m just really proud about everything I’ve done the last four weeks on grass here in London. I left the court with the head really, really, really high because I did everything that I could today.”
