Jannik Sinner welcomed the competition from Alexander Zverev after defending his Wimbledon title to win a fifth grand slam title and hoped that rival Carlos Alcaraz will return soon to provide even more.
Sinner overcame a tough four-set battle against Zverev as the Italian managed to bounce back from a difficult French Open for a second year in a row to become a two-time champion at the Championships.
The world No 1 had won his last nine matches in a row against Zverev, winning 14 sets in a row, but this was much closer that previous meetings and the the final could have gone either way until Sinner found the crucial break in the third.
Sinner and Zverev, who ended his long wait for a grand slam title at last month’s French Open, have split the major titles while Alcaraz has been sidelined due to a wrist injury. The Spaniard is attempting to return in time for the hard-court season and could play the US Open.
“Big, big respect to Sascha, because he’s doing something amazing. His game is growing and growing,” Sinner said. “In the same time, that’s exactly what’s good, because you have always someone who is pushing you to the limit.
“We hope that Carlos is coming back, as well, because tennis needs him. Having Novak [Djokovic] still around, having all the young players coming, it’s really, really nice. At the same time, you always need to work hard and have moments like this.”
Sinner suffered a shock second-round exit from the French Open last month, as he wilted in the intense Paris heat and lost from two sets up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
He arrived at Wimbledon without playing a warm-up tournament on grass and took his time to find his form, but stepped it up later in the tournament to thump Djokovic in the semi-finals and beat Zverev in the final.
Last year, Sinner recovered from a tough French Open final defeat to Alcaraz, when he squandered three Championship points, to beat the Spaniard and win Wimbledon for the first time.
|I think every grand slam is different, you know. Different story, different environment, different feelings before the tournament,” Sinner said.
“For me this one means a lot because was a tough one after Paris again. Last year was also tough. But coming here, I tried to put myself in the best possible position to be as competitive as possible.
“We put in a lot of workdays in Monaco, very, very long. Definitely sacrificing a lot of my time and everything to be in this position Having this achievement, it means a lot to me. It was an amazing day today.”
Zverev was encouraged by his run to a first Wimbledon final and the new world No 2 felt the gap to Sinner was closing despite suffering a 10th defeat in a row to him.
“I think [so] yeah,” Zverev said. “He’s still the best player in the world. I do believe that. I think he is. I do believe there’s only two, maybe three guys – you have to give Novak that – who can challenge him.
“All of us have to be working for that goal. I’ll continue working for that goal. I think I’ve challenged him today. Not enough, obviously, because I still sit here as the loser, as the loser of the match. I will continue doing that. The big tournaments are still around the corner.”
