After two hours and 42 minutes of play in a Wimbledon final that felt as dry, slow and wind-swept as a desert, Alexander Zverev finally sensed his opportunity. At long last, the 29-year-old German’s immaculate, imposing serving and brave attacking play paved the way to a first break point. By then, Jannik Sinner was past the stage of looking hot and tired, and his Wimbledon defence felt on the edge.
But from his toolbox, Sinner produced a drop shot that swept Zverev’s legs from underneath him. He held serve, then rose from the dust. On the very next game, Sinner scrambled to his right but fell to the grass, only to spring back up and stay alive in the point long enough for Zverev to make the crucial error. It was one of only two breaks in a three-hour 46-minute final that was dominated by serve, and which will hardly be remembered as a classic, but was gripping throughout – especially as Sinner brought some touches of magic in the closing moments.
It was the 24-year-old Italian who endured, who responded to countless moments of potential danger by firing unerringly powerful, clean serves past his opponent at speeds of up to 134mph. Anything the 6ft 6in Zverev could do, Sinner could do too. Then, in the biggest moments, Sinner defied Zverev on the defence. He eventually ground down the second seed on the return, and then struck for the finish line. A 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-4 victory secures a second consecutive Wimbledon crown and fifth grand slam title.
This time, Sinner fell to his back onto the grass. Last year, he stood with arms aloft when beating Carlos Alcaraz, but this was a marathon effort and he had been pushed all the way. The defending champion had always expected to face a “different” Zverev in the Wimbledon final even though he had won nine matches in a row against the German, and his last six without dropping a set. Their previous grand slam final, at the 2025 Australian Open, left Zverev at one of his lowest points and remarking Sinner felt in a “different universe”.
Yet he had not stood across the net from Zverev since ended his long wait to win a grand slam title at last month’s French Open and received an injection of confidence. Could Zverev take that into the Wimbledon final and turn a new page in their rivalry? Even though the result remained the same, the answer was yes. This was a gruelling, almost suffocating barrage of serving from both sides, an onslaught of power and accuracy. The wind swirling around Centre Court ensured that almost every game was its own battle, with the final prolonged by both players firing almost 50 per cent unreturned serves throughout the match.
Zverev was playing in his first Wimbledon final having previously failed to advance past the fourth round in nine attempts. He was aiming to become the first man in the open era to win his second grand slam title immediately after his first, but his appearance in the Wimbledon final was also clouded by the domestic abuse allegations he has faced from two former girlfriends, Olya Sharypova and Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his daughter. Zverev had strenuously denied all the accusations and reached a financial settlement with Patea in 2024, while a 15-month investigation from the ATP concluded in 2023 after finding “insufficient evidence to substantiate” Sharypova’s allegations.
The final began under a gorgeous blue sky, with the scorched grass behind the baseline a dusty shade of brown after a dry fortnight. The temperature at 4pm was warm, but not hot enough to alarm Sinner following his struggles in Paris, while a cool breeze also swirled around Centre Court. It appeared to disrupt Sinner’s rhythm in the opening stages. Of the two men, Zverev settled the quicker, until a double fault on deuce in the eighth game of the first set gave Sinner break point. If it was the first sign of nerves from Zverev, Sinner couldn’t take advantage as his forehand uncharacteristically broke down on the return.
In the throwback final of two massive servers, the tiebreak felt inevitable – but the margins remained razor thin. Sinner found the edge of the line with a drop shot to save the first set point before firing an ace. Zverev replied with a 134mph ace wide to save set point himself, before remaining composed over the overhead and crunching the backhand winner. But Zverev roared as he found the breakthrough, a thunderous forehand winner flashed down the line. A player who had previously backed down on the big points had vowed to be more aggressive and Centre Court bellowed its approval.
It was also the first point of the 16-point tiebreak that went against serve. The second set continued at a similar pace but with Sinner growing increasingly agitated. He waved his arms at his box at the ineffectiveness of his return against Zverev’s serve. He placed his hands on his head after Zverev worked his way through an exchange of volleys at the net. The second tiebreak felt pivotal for Sinner but, from nowhere, he found his moment as Zverev served into the wind and he pinged a return onto the baseline to draw the forehand error. Suddenly, the 24-year-old had something to work with. He looked alive.
Two hours in, with the sun setting and the shadows creeping across Centre Court, Zverev managed to quell some of Sinner’s momentum. He faced three consecutive games where he lost the first point on serve but came through them all. Then, at 3-3 in the third, after two hours, 42 minutes, Zverev finally saw a break point. Sinner, though, did more than keep his cool. He pulled the rug from Zverev’s feet to save. Then, on the very next game, as errors from Zverev left him in a hole Sinner lost his own footing as he scampered wide to his right. Somehow, he kept the point alive to find the crucial break. Zverev flung his racket away in disgust.
As the wind picked up and gusted around Centre Court, Sinner denied Zverev again as he pounded two excellent serves down 0-30. Then, at 3-3, Sinner played his best point of the match, turning defence into attack by playing a subtle lob over Zverev’s head and then showing the softest of hands at the net. It moved Sinner ahead and although Zverev saved two more break points, he could not hold on following consecutive forehand errors. Sinner pinned a return return onto the baseline and advanced to put the winner down the line.
Sinner had still not dropped serve as he entered his 22nd service game of the match and stood four points from the title. For one last time, Zverev threw everything he had at the 24-year-old and stretched him wide to his backhand corner. Zverev thought he had done enough, and yet there Sinner was, sprinting to his right to flicked the angled volley over the net.
This was a cathartic victory, as well. Sinner has been the dominant force on the men’s tour this season, setting records for winning five Masters titles in a row and building a 31-match streak. Yet two of his three defeats came at the most important stages, in five sets to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and, shockingly, from two sets up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open. Sinner had been the overwhelming pre-tournament favourite. After Sinner’s early exit and in Alcaraz’s absence, Zverev swept up the title.
But over the past four weeks, Sinner has once again demonstrated his ability to reset from disappointment. His victory over Alcaraz in last year’s final came after blowing three championship points to the same opponent in Paris. After his glaring weakness was exposed so publicly in the heat at this year’s French Open, Sinner simply got back on track and did what he does best. The wins came after Sinner made the bold choice to not play a warm-up tournament on grass before Wimbledon. In the first round, he had to fight from two sets to one down to avoid a major scare against Miomir Kecmanovic.
Sinner ensured he peaked when he needed to, with his destruction of Djokovic in the semi-finals and in the closing moments of a titanic battle on Centre Court, he proved why he is the best in the world once again.
