Sinner survives a marathon breaker and Zverev’s fall to keep his grip on Wimbledon

Top seed Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon title on Sunday, outlasting Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the No. 2 seed, 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 45 minutes to become the 10th man in the Open Era to retain the Wimbledon men’s singles title.

It’s Sinner fifth Grand Slam title, extending his all-time record for most majors won by an Italian player, a second consecutive Wimbledon crown, and a head-to-head lead over Zverev that now stands at 11-4.

The title caps three remarkable months on tour for Sinner, who arrived at Wimbledon having swept all five Masters 1000 events he entered this year – Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome – to become only the second player after Djokovic to complete the full set, and leaves with his 30th tour-level title.

Sinner’s overall 2026 record now stands at 50-3 including Wimbledon (43-3 heading into the tournament, plus his 7-0 run to the title). Of those three losses, only one came after Indian Wells: the second-round exit at Roland-Garros to Juan Manuel Cerundolo, blown from two sets up.

I know the goal for you is to become world No. 1 – you’re very close. We have to be careful now.

“Sasha, you reached one of your goals, winning a Grand Slam in Paris”, Sinner said holding the trophy. “Today you were so close. If you play like this, I’m very sure you’re going to have this one at home too. Amazing, keep going. I know the goal for you is to become world No. 1 — you’re very close. We have to be careful now.”

On the other side, the result denies Zverev a piece of history of his own. The Roland-Garros champion five weeks ago, now World No.2, had been bidding to become the first man in the Open Era to win the very next Grand Slam after his maiden major title, a feat only Ilie Nastase in 1973 and 1974 and Jimmy Connors managed faster, both while skipping a Slam in between.

First break after 2 hours and 53 minutes, for Sinner

For the first two sets, Zverev was the more aggressive player – attacking on 34 per cent of shots to Sinner’s 27 in the opener, and 34-30 in set 2 – and it showed on return, where Sinner won just 19 per cent of receiving points in the first set. Sinner rebalanced the initiative in the third, flipping the attacking split to 36-29 in his favour and lifting his return production to 41 per cent, finally matching Zverev on serve while taking over on the return too.

Sinner remained untouchable on his own delivery all along the afternoon, winning 80 per cent of first-serve points and 65 per cent on the second. Zverev, by contrast, finished with 45 unforced errors – including 28 off the forehand alone, a shot he let fly more than he should have – against just 25 for Sinner, and appeared to crack in the match’s final hour.

Sinner is the first player to claim the men’s singles title in Wimbledon without conceding games on serve in the semi-final and in final since Roger Federer in 2003. He had only one break point to save in both of the matches.

The first two sets were decided without a single break of serve. Zverev held a set point at 6-5 in the breaker, saved by Sinner with a passing shot off a drop-shot exchange landing on the line; Sinner then had a set point of his own at 7-6, saved by Zverev with an ace, before Zverev closed it out 9-7 with a forehand winner down the line.

Sinner responded by levelling in a far more one-sided second-set tiebreak, winning it 7-2, to send the final to two sets all with neither man’s serve touched.

Zverev’s slip

The third set turned on Zverev’s own service game at 3-3. Sinner, by now the aggressor and near-untouchable on his own delivery – 12 points to 1 across his first three service games – forced Zverev to 0-30 and then break point, only for the German to fall awkwardly chasing a drop shot and appear to hurt his right knee. He won no more points in that game, handing Sinner the hold for 4-3 and no more game in that set.

Sinner went straight to the net to check on him, though Zverev took no medical timeout and played on.

In the next game, serving at 40-15, Zverev was hauled back to deuce and then advantage Sinner on a long forehand exchange, his first serve visibly losing pace – his second-serve points won for the set would finish at just 29 per cent, against 63 per cent across the match as a whole so far. The break point itself featured a slip from Sinner too, but he won it anyway for the first break of the match, two hours and 53 minutes in. Sinner served out the set at love, closing with an ace, 6-3.

The perfect match point

The fourth set opened heavy-legged on both sides. Zverev held his first service game since the fall, and Sinner turned suddenly passive, winning only a third of the first 12 points and slipping to 1-2 before rousing himself from 0-30 down on serve to level at 2-2.

As the wind, present since the start of the match, strengthened through the closing set, Sinner broke again at 3-3 – Zverev committing three unforced errors in the game – and, with the German now visibly arguing with his father and coaching team, held at love for 5-3. Zverev saved the set once more, holding for 5-4, but Sinner served it out from there, reaching match point after a spectacular rally of successive drop shots at the three-hour-45-minute mark and converting his first chance with a forehand winner down the line.

“Jannik, I don’t really like you anymore, Zverev said during the on-court ceremony. I lost to you 9 times in a row. Jannik showed once again why he’s the best player in the world. It’s a great honor to be here. Unfortunately it didn’t go my way.” With Carlos Alcaraz absent from the tour for three months, the door was left open for both of his closest rivals – and in the end, neither let it shut on the other. Mission accomplished for both, in a way.