With his hopes of a third consecutive Wimbledon title fading desperately with every point, Carlos Alcaraz sat in his chair on Centre Court after conceding the third set of his final with Jannik Sinner and unloaded his thoughts on his team: “From the back of the court, he is much better than me. Much better than me! Much [better]! It’s like this,” Alcaraz said, gesturing with his hands to demonstrate the vast gap between his greatest rival and himself.
His assessment was not wrong. From a set down, Sinner put together a supreme performance to overturn five consecutive defeats against Alcaraz and win his first Wimbledon title, avenging the most difficult loss in his career – his French Open final defeat by Alcaraz in June – at the earliest opportunity.
No one in the world strikes the ball with anything close to the destructive power, cleanliness, consistency that the Italian employs to dominate on the court and he used his incessant aggression to constantly rob time from his opponent, making it so difficult for him to impose his own varied game.
Perhaps most notably, he pulled off the victory without making any fundamental changes to his approach. He continued to play the relentless brand of attacking tennis that has brought him success, smothering Alcaraz from the baseline. This time, he simply served far better in the decisive moments and he remained bold with his shot-making deep in the fourth set. The intensity, quality and unblinking focus Sinner brings on every single point was too much for Alcaraz, who this time could not find a miraculous pathway back into the match.
Sinner has spent the past 18 months dominating all others. Before the final he had compiled a record of 81 wins and two defeats against players other than Alcaraz since November 2023, and four losses out of four against the Spanish player during that period. This result shifts the dynamics of their rivalry – now Alcaraz must keep up. Peaking spectacularly in the big moments is not enough. Beating Sinner in best-of-five-set matches now requires consistent, steady excellence across the course of a match with few letdowns.
Things will only become more challenging. After achieving such a monumental result on one of Alcaraz’s favourite surfaces, Sinner will return to his preferred hard courts more confident than ever before.
In the early hours of Monday morning, after Sinner had left Centre Court, drunk champagne with his loved ones and then endured the two-hour plus media blitz reserved for all major champions, he was escorted to the five-star hotel Raffles London at the OWO for the annual Wimbledon champions dinner. By the time Sinner, 24 in August, made his appearance, well after midnight, he was in a slightly different mental state compared to the unrelenting focus he exuded on the court. “We were drinking quite a lot in the last hours,” he said, smiling. “A bit turning, the head, but it’s all good.”
Once an actual ball with the famed tradition of the men’s and women’s champions sharing the first dance of the night, Wimbledon’s celebratory event is a low-key dinner these days and the two champions were interviewed by the former British No 1 Laura Robson. Over the past two years, however, the event has nodded to its history by orchestrating a dance on stage. After 1am on Monday, a smiling Iga Swiatek and Sinner could be found dancing awkwardly together to Feel Iit Still by Portugal. The Man.
Towards the end of her interview, Swiatek was asked if she had ever considered offering up one solitary game to her opponent Amanda Anisimova, whom she thrashed in their final: “I didn’t,” she said after a long pause. “But I think any athlete would understand that.”
Swiatek’s 6-0, 6-0 win was a historic moment in the sport. However, it was also a simple reminder of the Pole’s singular dominance. She has She has demolished almost every prominent player on the tour at some point and she had already inflicted a double bagel on a far more distinguished opponent in a significant final, doing the same to Karolina Pliskova, the former world No 1 who was ranked No 9, , in the 2021 Italian Open. A beatdown is always on the cards when Swiatek is in full flow.
In comparison to the relief she felt after living up to expectations by maintaining her dominance on clay with three consecutive French Open titles, her sheer joy after winning Wimbledon, a title she never really expected to win, has been striking. This result has further allowed her to understand her potential and will almost certainly spur her on to even greater successes.
Now one Australian Open away from the career grand slam, it is hard to imagine that Swiatek will not end her playing days having captured every major title possible.
