London [UK], July 14 : The world's top-ranked superstar Jannik Sinner avenged his heartbreaking French Open final loss as he outclassed his rival and Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz to secure his maiden Wimbledon title on Sunday.
The 23-year-old captured his fourth major title, after two Australian Open and a US Open triumph, defeating Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a clash oozing with class and intensity in every shot. This was Sinner's first-ever Wimbledon final.
Flipping the script, Sinner also managed to put an end to Alcaraz's career-best 24-match win streak and became the first Italian to capture what many consider the most prestigious Grand Slam title. Sinner's picture-perfect finals record of 5-0 has been broken, and one loss has been added to it.
The 23-year-old Italian was extremely precise with his groundstrokes, but still lost the first set. Alcaraz came out aggressively, hitting with heavy pace and using drop shots well. He showed trademark resilience to bounce back from 2-4 in the first set and have it to his name with a backhand defensive block. But Sinner followed it with three hard-fought wins in the next three sets to take the trophy home.
Sinner had dropped just 17 games during his first three matches at Wimbledon and survived a major scare in the fourth round, when Grigor Dimitrov was forced to leave the field due to injury despite leading the game. Sinner also needed some medical attention on his elbow, but he battled hard against Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic to register his fifth Grand Slam final appearance.
Following the match, Sinner said as quoted by ATP website that playing against the Spanish star is "so difficult" and encouraged his rival to "keep going and keep pushing".
"I would like to start with Carlos. Again, an amazing tournament, but mostly thank you for the player you are. It is so difficult to play against you, but we have an amazing relationship off the court and on the court, we just try to build up, and to do that we need the best teams in the world. Keep going, keep pushing and you are going to hold this trophy many times. You already have two titles," said Sinner to Alcaraz.
"It is so special. Seeing my parents here, my brother, my whole team, it is amazing. Actually a special thanks to my brother, because there is no Formula 1 race this weekend, that is why he is here," he continued.
Alcaraz noted after the match that "it is difficult to lose"
"It is a really well-deserved trophy [after] an unbelievable two weeks here in London for you (Sinner), playing great tennis. For your team as well. I know that there are a lot of family and a lot of friends watching you here, so it is just an amazing team around you."
"I am really happy for you. So just keep it going, and I am really happy to be able to build a really good relationship off the court but then a good rivalry on the court. It makes me improve every day, so thank you very much and congratulations."
"I am really proud about everything I'm doing. At the beginning of the season, I struggled a bit on the court and off the court, but then suddenly I just started to really enjoy being on court again, being happy again, and that excitement I have every time step on the court is thanks to my team, my family and lot of friends. I am happy that I have them here. Without them it wouldn't be possible to stand here right now- It is a great journey so far which I am really proud about. I just want to keep it going," he concluded.
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