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Jannik Sinner bounced back to defend his Wimbledon title with a tense four-set victory over French Open champion Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.
When Sinner ripped a forehand winner up the line on his first match point, the Italian dropped to the grass on his back in an unusually dramatic celebration for the normally low-key Italian.
“This one means a lot because (it) was a tough one after Paris again,” Sinner said. “I’m proud of myself and my team, which continues to push me in the right direction.”
Amid stifling heat and humidity in Paris in late May, Sinner had his 30-match winning streak ended after coming within one game of a straight-set victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who was ranked No. 56.
Sinner went in for medical exams in Milan after the Paris defeat and didn’t play an official match again until he arrived at Wimbledon, where he twice had to come back from a set down in a five-set marathon against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round.
Sinner then didn’t drop a set the rest of the way until the final, having dominated against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.
It was Sinner’s 10th straight victory over Zverev, who was coming off his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Zverev’s previous best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the fourth round three times.
“I’m 29 years old and this is the first time I actually believe I can win this trophy,” Zverev said.
The top two seeds appeared perfectly matched until Zverev earned his only break point of the match at 3-3 in the third set — 2 hours and 42 minutes in.
Sinner produced a drop shot and Zverev slipped and appeared to hyper-extend his right knee as he attempted to change directions behind the baseline. Zverev grasped his knee in apparent discomfort and Sinner went around the net and helped his opponent up off the grass.
Zverev quickly resumed playing but he appeared slightly hampered and slung his racket across the baseline in frustration when he missed a forehand and handed Sinner the first break of the match and a 5-3 lead in the third. Sinner then served it out.
Sinner became the first player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon without conceding a service game in either the semifinals (against Novak Djokovic) or the final since Roger Federer did it in 2003 against Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis, respectively, en route to the first of his record eight titles.
Additional sources • AP