Wimbledon: World No 1 Jannik Sinner grinds down Alexander Zverev to successfully defend his title at the All England Club

12.07.2026, 22:23 skysports.com

Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon title with a four-set victory against French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Centre Court.

World No 1 Sinner bounced back after wilting in the Paris heatwave in the second round at Roland-Garros to claim his fifth Grand Slam title with a 10th straight victory over Zverev - 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 6-4.

Zverev, the first men's singles finalist from Germany since Boris Becker in 1995, had been attempting to become the first man in the professional era [since 1968] to win his second Grand Slam at the next event immediately after his first.

The win placed ​Sinner in rare company as the 10th man in the professional era to successfully defend the title, strengthening ​his credentials as one of the dominant players of ‌his generation while he chases down big rival Carlos Alcaraz's seven majors.

Both finalists slugged ​it out for 12 games in a high-octane first set on a warm and windy afternoon, before Zverev moved up a gear and ​hit a powerful forehand winner to clinch a gripping ⁠tie-break, yelling and crouching down in ⁠celebration.

The clean ball-striking continued but Zverev began to show signs of frustration late in the second ‌set, where a much more animated Sinner gained the upper hand in the tie-break and went on to level the contest at one set ‌apiece.

A five-time Grand Slam Champion alreadyAn all-time great at just 24 years oldSinner has now won 17 of the last 18 sets he’s played against Zverev and 10 consecutive matches against him14th consecutive win at Wimbledon100th Grand Slam match win✅30th title✅Won 37 of last 38 matches

Zverev brought up his first break point midway through the third set after more than two and a half hours, but slipped and fell to the ground after being wrong-footed by a Sinner drop shot. With Zverev screaming out ⁠in agony, the Centre Court crowd gasped when he ​rolled onto his back clutching his right knee.

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The ​second seed dusted himself off and carried on but was ​left seething when Sinner pounced in the next game to ⁠break for a 5-3 lead, slamming his racket to the floor, and soon found himself trailing the Italian two-sets-to-one after nearly three hours of battle.

Sinner ⁠broke again for a 4-3 advantage in ​the fourth set as Zverev's level briefly dipped, and the ​24-year-old held firm in an entertaining spell to complete the victory and then collapsed to the threadbare turf ‌in celebration.