London: Jannik Sinner delivered. Five weeks after holding three match-points in the final at Roland Garros, the steely world No. 1 buried the demons on Wimbledon’s Centre Court to become the first Italian to triumph at SW19.Sinner closed with an ace, his eighth of the match for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win, ending Alcaraz’s reign and his run of victories at Church Road.The early games of the final hit a deafening crescendo, Alcaraz winning his opening service game at love, and Sinner only winning a point off the Spaniard’s serve when he had gone up 40-love in the third game. But from all the notes the duo was hitting it was clear at the get-go itself that the order of the day was lights-out tennis. The Italian pressed in the fifth game, taking Alcaraz’s serve to deuce with the direction of his returns, two points later he had secured the first break of the final.
Alcaraz raised the tempo in the eighth game, using his forehand to pull Sinner out of the court, tossing in a couple of drop shots in the middle to catch the Italian short. The 22-year-old broke to level scores.The world No.1 struggled when ahead, losing three successive games from 4-2 up. Sinner then faced two break points in the tenth game, the second followed by a double fault. The two-time champion converted the break when he feathered a backhand after Sinner appeared to stand there admiring his shot. The house was on its feet.The crowds, as all tennis fans are these days, was pro Alcaraz, but the two were evenly matched when it came to individual championing, ‘Vamos, Carlito’ or ‘Forza Janeeeek’. There seemed to be far greater appreciation, however, when the twotime defending champion came up with a stellar point than when the world No. 1 did, but for a large part Centre Court was warming to Sinner, and delighting in the rivalry.Sinner got the early break in the second set, breaking in the opening game. He held on to that advantage as the set went deeper.That’s when Alcaraz stepped up on the pace on his serve, coming up with speeds of 136 and 139 mph at crunch time in the seventh game. It’s that little X-factor, sometimes speed other times sass that the Italian appeared to be struggling with in the final. As if in response, Sinner pulled out a series of shots, powered off the ground at a fearsome pace, to hold serve and close the set. The crowd was on its feet and the world No. 1 gestured to Centre Court to let him hear it.It was clear that the 130-plus serve was the shot that pushed both players on the defensive. While Alcaraz mixed it up with 110 mph kick serves that shook, Sinner the surface proved to be the matrix in this whocan-go faster contest.When Sinner broke Alcaraz in the ninth game of the third set, the Spaniard slipping at the back of the court, the Italian didn’t go to his seat until Alcaraz gave him the thumbs up. That was the spirit in which the final was played.In the fourth set, it was Sinner who went for the first jab. Just when it looked like the Spaniard was out, he threatened to rise, like he did in that epic final in Paris. Sinner faced double breakpoint at 15-40 in the seventh game, but managed to pull back to 40-All, before claiming the next two points and serving out The Championships in the tenth game.
