jannik sinner

LONDON — Jannik Sinner insisted early on at Wimbledon that he put an excruciating loss to Carlos Alcaraz in their epic French Open final behind him. Sinner was sure that one defeat wouldn’t haunt him, wouldn’t prevent a quick recalibration and certainly wouldn’t mean a thing at the All England Club.

Sure was right about all of that.

Exactly five weeks after the devastating defeat at Roland-Garros against his rival, Sinner reversed the result, defeating two-time defending Wimbledon champion Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first championship at the grass-court major.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you win or you lose the important tournaments. You just have to understand what you did wrong. Trying to work on that — that’s exactly what we did. We tried to accept the loss and then just kept working,” Sinner said Sunday, his shiny gold hardware in his hands. “And this is, for sure, why I’m holding this trophy here.”

The No. 1-ranked Sinner earned his fourth Grand Slam title overall, moving him one away from No. 2 Alcaraz’s total as the two no-longer-rising-but-firmly-established stars of the game separate themselves from the rest of the pack in men’s tennis.

Sinner, a 23-year-old Italian, put an end to several streaks for Alcaraz, a 22-year-old Spaniard.

Alcaraz had won their past five matches between the pair, most famously across five sets and nearly 5 1/2 hours on the red clay of the French Open on June 8. Sinner took a two-set lead, then held a trio of match points, but couldn’t close the deal.

Asked during Week 1 at Wimbledon whether that created lingering doubts, Sinner immediately replied: “Why negative feelings? Because I lost in (that) final?”

Then he continued: “No. Look, it’s a new tournament, new Grand Slam, new surface. I’m not concerned about my level I can play. … I’m not concerned that one loss can influence you for so long a time. I believe that here is a new chance that I can do something good.”

Great, even.

This time, he didn’t waver, asserting himself in a match that featured moments of terrific play by both men, but also the occasional lapses — and one memorable, brief, interruption right before a Sinner serve when a Champagne cork came flying out of the stands and settled on the turf.

With Prince William and Princess Kate in the Royal Box, along with King Felipe VI of Spain, Alcaraz stepped into the sunlight bathing Centre Court with a career-best 24-match unbeaten run. He had won 20 matches in a row at the All England Club.

“It’s difficult to lose,” Alcaraz said. “It’s always difficult to lose.”

The last man to beat him at Wimbledon? Sinner, in the fourth round in 2022.

So this served as a bookend win for Sinner, who would be forgiven for at least thinking a bit about his collapse in their last match — especially when facing two break points while serving at 4-3, 15-40 in the fourth set Sunday.

But he calmly took the next four points to take that game, then soon was serving out the win after a chorus of “Car-los! Car-los!” rang out from spectators.

“Very happy that I (held) my nerves,” Sinner said.

When it ended, he put both hands on his white hat. After embracing Alcaraz, Sinner crouched with his head bowed, then pounded his right palm on the grass.

“Thank you for the player you are,” Sinner told Alcaraz. “It’s so difficult to play against you.”

Sinner has participated in four consecutive major finals, including triumphs at the U.S. Open — shortly after the world learned about a doping case that eventually led to a three-month ban — and the Australian Open.

Wearing the same tape job and white arm sleeve to protect his right elbow that he has been using since falling in the fourth round, Sinner never showed any issues, just as he hadn’t while eliminating Novak Djokovic on Friday.

In the final, Sinner and Alcaraz produced scintillating points, with few, if any, half-measures. They sprinted at top speed and swung away with full force, rarely bending to the other’s will.

From 4-2 down, Alcaraz took four games in a row. That spurt included a 140 m.p.h. ace that sprayed the air with a cloud of white chalk dust and a set-capping, flick-of-a-backhand winner at an impossible angle after barely getting his racket on the ball.

As fans rose and roared, Alcaraz pointed to his ear and spun around, then pumped his right fist overhead.

Sinner was undaunted, quickly breaking to lead the second set. He returned exceptionally, even as Alcaraz served aggressively, which did lead to 15 aces — but also to a 53 per cent first-serve percentage and seven double-faults.

Much like at the French Open, there was often an unrelenting intensity to these three-plus hours, and any slight misstep created problems. It was Alcaraz who had more of those, although Sinner might have had the most memorable, blowing an overhead right after coming up with a behind-the-back, through-the-legs half-volley in the third set.

In all, these guys showed why they combined to win the past seven Grand Slam trophies, and nine of the last 12.

Fittingly, this marked the first time the same two men faced off in the title matches at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal did it in 2006, 2007 and 2008. It hadn’t happened for more than a half-century before that trilogy.

“I’m just really, really happy about having this rivalry with him,” Alcaraz said about Sinner. “It’s great for us, and it is great for tennis.”